National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has
invited bids for projects of 4,900 km till November, 2017, while bids for
another 3,500 km are likely to be invited by December end, taking the total
upto 400 km. Further projects for bidding during Jan-March, 2018 will be
identified around the 4th week of December , 2017. Projects costing
Rs. 22,100 crore and covering 1170 Km have already been awarded so far and the
bids for many other projects are under evaluation.
Some of the projects that were bid out this year
include:-
·
Dwarka
Expressway in Delhi;
·
Varanasi
Ring Road Phase-II in Uttar Pradesh;
·
Khambataki
Ghat 6-lane Tunnel on Pune – Satara Section in Maharashtra;
·
Jodhpur
Ring Road in Rajasthan;
·
Bridge
at Manihari Ghat (near Sahibganj) in Bihar;
·
6-laning
of Chordaha – Gorhar – Barwa Adda in Jharkhand;
·
4-laning
of Ghoshpukur – Salsalabari in West Bengal;
·
4-laning
of Bhopal – Biaora in Madhya Pradesh;
·
4-laning
of Cuttack – Angul Section in Odisha;
·
6-laning
of Bengaluru – Mysore Section in Karnataka;
·
Fully
Access Controlled Expressway (Anandapuram-Pendurthi-Anakapalli) with
connectivity to Visakhapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh
In FY 2017-18, NHAI has completed 1566 km length of
the projects under implementation till November, 2017 (5,060 lane km). The
average in last 5 years of length constructed by NHAI is 2,175 Km with 2,628 Km
constructed in FY 2016-17. This year NHAI is targeting to construct 3,500
Km.
The work on 12 new projects (covering 597 Km) has commenced and will start soon
on another 38 projects (covering 1969 Km). The banks/ financial
institutions are now showing keen interest in Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) and
financial closure of HAM projects are now happening smoothly.
NHAI is making all out efforts to achieve its target
of awarding 10,000 km during 2017-18, as set by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of
Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development
& Ganga Rejuvenation. The Authority is also gearing up to meet its target
of completing Phase I of the recently approved “Bharatmala Pariyojana” within
the next five years, that is upto 2021-22. During the last 5 years NHAI’s
average award has been 2,860 Km, with 4,335 Km awarded in FY 2016-17.
While approving the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the Government had authorized NHAI
Board to appraise and approve projects on Engineering, Procurement &
Construction (EPC) mode, which constitute 30% of the Pariyojana. Accordingly
the NHAI Board constituted two appraisal committees for appraising projects
costing more than Rs. 500 Crore and internal appraisal committees for appraising
projects upto Rs. 500 Crore, besides delegating power to Chairman to approve
projects upto Rs. 500 Crore and to the Executive Committee of NHAI for projects
costing Rs. 500-1,000 Crore.
The Appraisal Committees have cleared several
projects already, which has led to expediting the invitation and acceptance of
bids. Chairman NHAI is reviewing the targets on weekly basis. Regional Officers
have been instructed to engage retired Revenue Officials of the rank of ADM for
each project so as to expedite the land acquisition. The delays in
starting the projects like disbursement of compensation, tree cutting
permissions, etc. are also constantly monitored. The site officers of NHAI have
been instructed to meet and sit with the concerned officials of State
Governments till the clearances are received. Issues are escalated to the Chief
Secretaries of State Governments, if not resolved at local level.
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NP/MS
