With the debt of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) surpassing Rs 3 lakh crore and its dependance on government's budgetary support increasing, the NITI Aayog has decided to go in for an institutional evaluation of the highway construction body. The government think tank's Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) has floated a tender for selection of a technical consultant for conducting an evaluation study of road projects and the functioning of NHAI. "In the context of its (NHAI's) increasing debt servicing burden, contingent liabilities, dependence on government budgetary support, and ambitious highway and infrastructure development plan, there is a need to better understand the performance of NHAI and evaluate its existing practices and finances in order to provide inputs in improving its functioning," the DMEO said in it's report. NHAI's debt has seen an increase from Rs 23,797 crore in March 2014 to Rs 3.48 lakh crore in March 2022. NHAI's spending in FY22
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Tuesday said the daily toll collection through FASTag system reached an all-time high of Rs 193.15 crore on April 29, with 1.16 crore transactions recorded in a single day. NHAI in a statement further said since FASTag was mandated by the government in February 2021, the number of toll plazas under FASTag programme has increased from 770 to 1,228, including 339 state toll plazas. FASTag uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, which provides users a smooth crossover at toll plazas without halting. The payment is made digitally through the FASTag linked to the bank wallet. In addition to its effectiveness in toll collection, FASTag has also facilitated seamless and secure contactless payment for parking fees at over 140 parking lots in 50+ cities across India, NHAI added. NHAI also said it is actively working towards finalizing the necessary requirements for implementation of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
State-owned NHAI is working towards development of around 10,000 kilometres of Optic Fibre Cables (OFC) infrastructure across the country by FY2024-25, according to an official statement. The statement said National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), a fully-owned special purpose vehicle of NHAI, will implement the network of "digital highways" by developing integrated utility corridors along the national highways to develop OFC infrastructure. According to the statement, around 1,367 kilometres on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and 512 km on the Hyderabad-Bangalore corridor have been identified as pilot routes for the digital highway development. The statement said providing internet connectivity to remote locations across the country, the OFC network will help expedite the roll-out of new-age telecom technologies like 5G & 6G. The recently-inaugurated 246-km DelhiDausaLalsot section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway features a three-metre dedicated utility corridor used to
The average trading volumes on the counter jumped three-fold as around 32.98 million shares changed hands on the NSE and BSE
In the past one week, shares of this construction firm gained 1.7 per cent, as against 0.2 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex
State-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday said it has started using steel slag in road construction on a trial basis in line with the government's 'Waste to Wealth' mission. NHAI in a statement said this initiative will help to address the challenge of shortage of material used in the development of National Highways and could replace natural aggregates, such as sand, gravel, or crushed stone, with the waste material from the steel industry. According to the statement, the authority permitted Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) to construct one km long trial patch in the Raigarh district for PQC of the Panvel Indapur section of NH 66 near Mumbai, where 100 per cent natural aggregates were replaced by steel slag derived aggregates. The results from the trial have been encouraging, it said. The statement noted that the use of such material in road construction will make construction more economical and promote the circular economy and resource efficienc
Currently, for a single journey, a car is charged Rs 80 while a bus or truck pays Rs 235 at the Kherki Dhala tolling booth
The National Green Tribunal has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to pay a compensation of Rs 2 crore for failing to comply with environmental norms while constructing an eight-lane highway from Mukarba Chowk to Singhu border in Delhi. The tribunal was hearing a petition claiming the generation of dust because of the non-sprinkling of water at village Khampur and other stretches, and not following the principles of compensatory afforestation and non-compliance with the Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification and Maintenance) Policy. A bench of Chairperson Justice A K Goel noted that the tribunal in November last year had sought a factual report from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the director of the national capital's environment department. The bench also comprising judicial members Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, along with expert member A Senthil Vel, said the joint committee had submitted its report,
The construction work of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway will be complete by the end of December this year, reducing the journey time between the two cities to two hours, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said. "Work on the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway project will be over by December end and from January 1 next year people will be travelling from Dehradun to Delhi in just two hours," Gadkari said during a visit to Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh on Sunday. A journey from Dehradun to Delhi at present takes around six hours. The union minister who visited the Ashram to take part in a Ganga Aarti along with family said the all-weather road project will make year-round Char Dham Yatra possible. "Char Dham Yatra goes on for six months at present. But, once the all-weather road project is complete, devotees can visit the Himalayan temples throughout the year," he said. Work on the ropeway project in Kedarnath whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendr
At the bourses, shares of HG Infra Engineering, KNR Constructions, and KEC International have surged up to 9.3 per cent since February 1
The government is working towards making India a global automobile manufacturing hub and the domestic industry is expected to be worth Rs 15 lakh crore in the near term, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday. Virtually inaugurating Tata Motor's vehicle scrapping facility in Jaipur, Gadkari said the automobile sector currently contributes to 7.1 per cent of the nation's GDP with the industry size at around Rs 7.8 lakh crore. "The auto sector gives direct and indirect employment to around 4 crore people and this number is expected to grow to 5 crore by 2025. I am working with a target to make India number one global automobile manufacturing hub and to take its size to Rs 15 lakh crore in the near future," he noted. Gadkari noted that the scrappage policy enables removal of older and unfit vehicles and introduction of new lesser polluting vehicles in a phased manner. "It is estimated that the automotive demand generated by the scrapping policy will lead to additional GST revenu
The ED initiated the investigation under the PMLA based on the FIR filed by the CBI under various sections of the IPC, and Sections 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the Prevention of Corruption Act
Two-wheelers, including motorcycles and scooters, three-wheelers, non-motorised vehicles, and tractors with or without trailers have been barred from entry
Not to overshoot FY24 net borrowing target of Rs 11.8 trillion
Chief Minister Sukhu said, 'I have urged Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for construction of flyovers to ease traffic congestion besides reducing distance and saving commuters time'
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday unveiled Skye UTM, touted as the most cutting-edge unmanned traffic management system in the world
With the government betting big on infrastructure, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday increased allocation to state-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to Rs 1.62 lakh crore for 2023-24 from last year's revised allocation of Rs 1.42 lakh crore. The Union Budget 2023-24 has allocated an enhanced outlay of Rs 2.70 lakh crore for the highways sector. An allocation of Rs 1.99 lakh crore was made for the highways sector for 2022-23, which was revised to Rs 2.17 lakh crore. NHAI and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways in India.
Data pegs monthly toll collections at Rs 4200 crore, signalling stronger adoption in national and state highways
Total toll collection through FASTag on fee plazas, including state highway toll plazas, increased 46 per cent to Rs 50,855 crore in 2022, state-owned NHAI said on Tuesday. Total toll collection through FASTag on fee plazas, including state highway toll plazas, in 2021 was Rs 34,778 crore. The average daily toll collection through FASTag on NH fee plazas in December 2022 was Rs 134.44 crore, and the single day highest collection touched Rs 144.19 crore on December 24, 2022, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said in a statement. Similarly, the statement said the number of FASTag transactions also witnessed a growth of about 48 per cent year-on-year in 2022. The number of FASTag transactions in 2021 and 2022 was 219 crore and 324 crore, respectively, it added. The statement said with 6.4 crore FASTags issued as of date, the total number of FASTag-enabled fee plazas across the country also grew to 1,181 (including 323 state highway fee plazas) in 2022 from 922 in the ..
During the event, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Isha Foundation founder Sadhguru and many other stakeholders discussed the key issues related to road safety