Parliamentary standing committee raps MoRTH over quality of highways

Alleges inadequate enforcement against errant contractors

The parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture on Tuesday slammed the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry over continued inadequacies in highway construction and the reasons given for them. The panel also asked the ministry why errant contractors continued to get projects.

 

In its report on the ministry’s demand for grants for 2025-26, the committee said it welcomed the inclusion of defect liability clauses for highway contracts. However, it also observed the “inconsistent enforcement,” with some contractors failing to undertake repairs without penalty.

 

“It also raises concerns over firms with a record of poor construction continuing to receive new contracts. The committee, therefore, recommends stricter enforcement of defect liability clauses. The ministry should implement differentiated contracting approaches with extended defect liability periods modelled after the success of build, operate and transfer (BOT) and hybrid annuity model (HAM) contracts, which have demonstrated superior road condition outcomes by maintaining contractor responsibility for maintenance,” it said.

 

The committee recommended to the ministry a tiered-rating approach for contractors — something that the ministry last year said it has been working on. The rating for contractors will determine eligibility and preference in future contracts. 

 

Additionally, the proposed public registry of non-compliant contractors should include standardised performance metrics, documented defects, remediation timelines, and compliance history. This will enable meaningful comparison across firms, the panel told the ministry. 

 

“This transparency mechanism should be complemented by a formalised dispute-resolution system with clear escalation protocols and penalties for non-compliance with rectification orders,” it said.

 

The report revealed that the ministry had sought ₹3.06 trillion in budget grants for FY26. Of this, it received ₹2.87 trillion from the government, which is 93 per cent of the demand.

 

Moreover, the committee said that the financial instability among contractors remains a recurring issue.

 

“The committee is deeply dissatisfied with the ministry’s failure to ensure rigorous financial screening before awarding contracts. It is leading to instances where contractors have defaulted on obligations due to financial distress, resulting in prolonged stagnation of infrastructure projects,” it said.

 

Ever since the ministry relaxed certain financial thresholds for contract awarding due to Covid in 2020, experts have repeatedly pointed out that a lot of competition, which may not have adequate skin in the game, has entered the sector. This sentiment is now echoed by the standing committee.

 

“Furthermore, the committee notes that many contractors awarded projects that lacked the financial capacity to sustain operations, necessitating greater due diligence in the contractor selection process. It is also observed that cost overruns and delayed government payments had further exacerbated the financial strain on executing agencies. This raised concerns regarding the long-term sustainability of the ministry’s project implementation strategy. The committee, therefore, urges the ministry to enforce more rigorous financial screening before awarding contracts, ensuring that only firms with proven financial capacity undertake major infrastructure projects,” it said.

 

The persistent existence of identified black spots represents a “significant governance failure that directly translates into preventable deaths,” the panel said.

 

The ministry should implement a three-tier prioritisation framework, categorising black spots based on severity (frequency and impact of accidents), complexity of intervention required, and population exposure, it added.