IL&FS mess: Centre seeks update on stalled highway projects from new board

The Centre wants to know whether IL&FS is keen on completing these projects, otherwise they would be tendered to other concessionaires as delays in execution may escalate their cost

The Union road ministry would soon approach the board of IL&FS for an update on the delayed highway projects. In case the new board wants to abandon the construction, the Centre would award these projects to other contractors.

“We want to know whether they are willing to finish the projects that they started and have been delayed for the last couple of years, otherwise we will find new contractors for those contracts,” a senior road ministry official told Business Standard.

According to the official, the four-laning project of Kiratpur-Ner Chowk Section of NH-21 in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh is 60