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NHAI to track 100 toll plazas with GIS-based software for seamless traffic

State-owned NHAI will track around 100 toll plazas with GIS-based software for seamless movement of traffic at national highways, an official statement said on Monday. According to the statement, these toll plazas have been identified based on congestion feedback received through 1,033 national highway helpline. The live monitoring and tracking system will provide congestion alerts and lane distribution recommendations when the queue of vehicles at a toll plaza is more than the prescribed limit, it added. The monitoring service will be extended to more toll plazas in a phased manner. Apart from providing the name and location of the toll plaza, the statement said the software will share details related to the live status of queue length in meters, total waiting time and vehicle speed at toll plaza. It will also provide congestion alert and lane distribution recommendation, if the queue of vehicles at a toll plaza is more than the prescribed limit, the statement added. In addition

Single bid for national highway projects will be acceptable: Morth

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Wednesday said that even a single bid for national highways work will be considered if it is reasonable. As per the circular, the bidding process will not be cancelled if there is only one bidder for a highway project. "Even when only one bid is submitted, the process should be considered valid, provided the procurement was satisfactory advertised and sufficient time was given for submission of bids, the qualification criteria were not restrictive and prices are reasonable in comparison to market value, " it said. Regarding reasonableness of the prices, the circular said the evaluation committee may examine the rates taking into consideration the comparison with the similar contracts awarded elsewhere. The purchase price of similar contracts may be updated taking into consideration inflation during the interim period, geographical conditions etc, it added. The circular said the purchase price of similar contracts may also be ...

NHAI ordered to do stability check of new Kali river bridge post collapse

Authorities in neighbouring Karnataka on Wednesday ordered the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to check stability of the new Kali river bridge after an old bridge on the water body collapsed. The old bridge on the river collapsed at around 1.30 am on Wednesday, resulted in heavy traffic on national highway no. 66 connecting Goa to Karnataka, officials said. A truck crossing the bridge at the time fell into the river. Local fishermen later rescued its driver, a police official from Karwar in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka told PTI. The old bridge which collapsed was used for Goa-bound traffic after the construction of a new one a decade back, the official said. Uttar Kannada District Magistrate Lakshmi Priya K said it has been brought to the notice that the old Kali river bridge connecting Karwar and Sadashivgad collapsed at 1.30 am on Wednesday. She ordered the NHAI officials concerned to verify and report stability of the new Kali river bridge connecting Karwar a

Projects worth Rs 3 trn to be awarded by road ministry in 3 months: Gadkari

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said his ministry will award road contracts worth Rs 3 lakh crore within three months and close the current financial year with contracts worth Rs 5 lakh crore. Addressing an event here, Gadkari said because of the Lok Sabha elections and the model code of conduct, the speed of awarding road projects was slow in the initial months of the current financial year. "I assure you, within three months, we will finalise the (road) contracts more than Rs 3 lakh crore, and our target is to award over Rs 5 lakh crore of (road) contracts by March 2025," he said. Gadkari noted that the road ministry has a lot of road projects in the pipeline, and raising funds for the projects will not be a problem, as NHAI has a very good reputation in the capital market. The minister said NHAI's present toll income is Rs 45,000 crore and in the next two years, it will go up to Rs 1.4 lakh crore. "We are monetising the road assets by which we are

NHAI not facing financial crises, pre-paid Rs 15,700 cr bank loan: Gadkari

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is not facing any financial crises and has drawn up a plan to service its debt through improved inflows of toll revenue and asset monetisation, Parliament was informed on Thursday. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said, "NHAI is not facing any financial crises which is evident from the fact that NHAI has pre-paid bank loan to the tune of Rs 15,700 crore through InvIT monetisation proceeds - Rs 6,350 crore in the last financial year and Rs 9,350 crore in July 2024," he added. NHAI's debt stands at Rs 3.35 lakh crore. Gadkari said the government has not mandated NHAI to raise funds since FY2023-24. "Thus, the debt reduction has started," he said. The minister also said that NHAI has drawn up a plan to service its debt through improved inflows of toll revenue and asset monetisation. "The amount raised through the InvIT mode is used exclusively for debt repayment," Gadkari ...

Beware! Incorrect FASTag placement doubles costs, risks car blacklisting

CCTV footage capturing the VRN at toll plazas will be recorded to ensure proper documentation of the fee charged and the vehicle's presence in the toll lane

NHAI to charge double toll from vehicles with non-affixed FASTag on front

NHAI said deliberate non-affixation of FASTag on the windscreen leads to unnecessary delays at the toll plazas causing inconvenience to fellow National Highway users

NHAI implements flood response plan amid above-normal monsoon forecast

Rainfall in July is expected to surpass 106 per cent of the long-period average, which serves as the standard measure, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said

NHAI sets up dedicated cell to review DPRs of national highway projects

The cell will provide expert inputs and enable end-to-end monitoring of the DPR (detailed project report) for national highway projects

Budget 2024-25: Highway capital expenditure may rise up to 10%

Experts understand it as reasonable, given the high base the highway budget is operating on due to back-to-back bumper hikes in the previous two financial years

NHAI plans to offer 15 projects worth Rs 44,000 cr under BOT mode in FY25

State-owned NHAI is looking to offer 15 road projects worth Rs 44,000 crore covering 937 km during the current financial year under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) mode. Earlier this year, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) came out with a modified BOT project document to attract private companies for investments in the highways sector. These stretches include Guwahati Ring road including Brahmaputra Bridge in Assam (project cost Rs 5,500 crore), Kasarwadi-Rajgurunagar in Maharashtra (Rs 5,954 crore), Pune-Shirur road project in Maharashtra ( Rs 6,170 crore) and Armoor-Mancherial road project in Telangana (Rs 3,175 crore), among others. In BOT projects, private investors take the financing, building and operating a highway project over a concession period of 20-30 years. The developer then recoups investment through user charges or tolls. The changes in BOT projects introduced earlier this year include construction support to concessionaires to complete them on time a

NHAI to start work on Rs 4,000-cr Chattergala tunnel in J-K: Nitin Gadkari

The NHAI will begin work on the Rs 4,000-crore Chattergala tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Monday. Gadkari on Monday chaired a review meeting that was also attended by Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh. "The prestigious Chhatergala tunnel work, costing about Rs 4,000 crore, will be executed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the underpasses on the Kathua express corridor section, wherever demanded by the public, will be undertaken at the earliest," an official spokesperson said after the review meeting. During the meeting, Singh thanked Gadkari for accepting most of the suggestions and proposals put across by him. Singh said the proposal for the tunnel was initiated about six years ago and the detailed project report prepared by the Border Roads Organisation but the work could not be started due to a lack of funds. Now, it has been decided

CBI arrests NHAI GM, 6 others for Rs 10 lakh bribery case in Madhya Pradesh

The CBI has arrested NHAI general manager Purushottam Lal Choudhary, posted in Madhya Pradesh's Chattarpur, in a Rs 10-lakh bribery case, officials said on Sunday. The six other other accused in the case, including an NHAI consultant Sharad Verma and his resident engineer Prem Kumar Sinha, and four employees of accused company PNC Infratech -- Satyanarayana Anguluri, Brijesh Mishra, Anil Jain and Shubham Jain --, were arrested on Saturday evening, they said. The accused were receiving bribes for the final handing over as well as the issuance of a no objection certificate and processing of the final bill of the Jhansi-Khajuraho Project awarded to the company by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The CBI had booked 10 suspects in the case, including the seven arrested accused, in the FIR. It is alleged that Yogesh Jain and T R Rao, directors of PNC Infratech Limited, were paying bribes to NHAI officials for obtaining favours. The CBI received information that they were

NHAI seeks global bids for GNSS-based electronic toll collection system

State-owned NHAI has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from around the world for implementation of GNSS-based (satellite-based) electronic toll collection to provide seamless and barrier-free tolling experience on National Highways users, an official statement said on Friday. The move is aimed at putting an end to physical toll booth on highways. "To provide seamless and barrier-free tolling experience to National Highway users and enhance efficiency and transparency of toll operations,Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL), a company promoted by NHAI has invited Global Expression of Interest (EOI) from innovative and qualified companies to develop and implement GNSS-based electronic toll collection system in India," the statement said. NHAI plans to implement the GNSS-based electronic toll collection (ETC) system within the existing FASTag ecosystem, initially using a hybrid model where both RFID-based ETC and GNSS-based ETC will operate simultaneously, the stateme

NHAI increases highway tolls across the country by an average of 5%

Motorists using expressways will have to shell out more from Monday as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to hike tolls across the country by an average of 5 per cent. The annual revision of highway user fee, which is expected to be in the range of average 5 per cent, was earlier to come into effect on April 1. But the hike was deferred due to the Lok Sabha elections. "The new user fee will come into effect from 3.6.2024," a senior NHAI official said on Sunday. The change in toll fee is part of an annual exercise to revise the rates that are linked to the changes in the wholesale price index (CPI)-based inflation. There are around 855 user fee plazas on the national highway network on which user fee is levied as per the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008. Out of these, around 675 are public-funded fee plazas and 180 are operated by concessionaires.

NHAI's road assets monetisation can fetch up to Rs 60,000 cr FY25: ICRA

Rating agency ICRA on Thursday said state-owned NHAI's targeted asset monetisation of road assets could fetch the government up to Rs 60,000 crore in the current fiscal year. In April 2024, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had released an indicative list of 33 road assets it plans to monetise in FY2025, through a mix of toll-operate-transfer (TOT) and sale to the NHAI's Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT). These assets are spread across 12 states, cumulatively spanning nearly 2,750 km and with an annual toll collection of Rs 4,931 crore. "ICRA estimates a monetisation potential of Rs 53,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore from the sale of 33 road assets through TOT/ InvIT mode," it said. NHAI intends to club the 33 identified assets into large (more than Rs 6,000 crore), medium (about Rs 3,000 crore - Rs 4,000 crore) and smaller bundles (Rs 1,000-3,000 crore), for different types of investors. Under the government's National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), road sector ...

Highway Ministry hits 20% of capital expenditure target in April 2024

Ministry has created 100-day plan for new government, highway min says

Road rage on deal street: Changing landscape of highway construction biz

$11.3 billion worth of highways have changed hands since 2019, and road construction has moved out of the isolated universe of thekedars to embrace fund managers in fine suits

From helipads to drone zones: Here's how NHAI plans to transform highways

NHAI has set an ambitious target of establishing 1,000 wayside amenities over the next five years, translating to one facility every 50 kilometres along national highways

New BOT terms may revive pvt capex in highways: India Ratings and Research

Most Concerns Attended to, but Toll Estimation and Traffic Diversion from Competing Roads Pose Risk