DCI, NHAI in pact to facilitate sand supply for building roads

Highways authority NHAI and Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) have signed a pact to ensure adequate supplies of sand for road construction, the government said today.
DCI, which is looking at doing dredging at various South East Asian sites, will ensure supplies in the domestic market.
Concessionaires working on highway projects have been facing a shortage of sand at many sites and the pact aims to fill this gap by facilitating the supplies to them.
The ministry of shipping said in a statement that the MoU between DCI and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for facilitating sand supplies for highway construction works was signed yesterday.

"DCI intends to do dredging operations at locations in South East Asia, generating large volumes of sand," the statement said.
As per the MoU, business intermediaries will ship and store this sand at various ports in India and market it within the country, the statement said.
NHAI will facilitate the process by displaying the availability of sand at various stockyards at the ports.