The road transport ministry has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to ascertain the findings of a report by the World Bank's Institutional Integrity Unit. According to the report, contractors paid bribes and gifts to influence the actions of NHAI officials and consultants.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been told to work on awarding contracts for around 100 projects, covering 11,151 km, over the financial year starting April 1.
Currently, roads are only entrusted with the authority which licences them to private developers who cannot provide such roads as security to avail loans from banks and other other institutions. Once the roads are vested with the NHAI, the authority can lease them to the developer who can securitise the property to raise money.
A 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in budget allocation towards the roads sector for FY24 has led to renewed interest among investors. However, a combination of escalating costs for Bharatmala and unseasonal rains to some extent have impacted progress. Bharatmala's cost has nearly doubled from Rs 5.35 trillion to Rs 10.6 trillion and the finance ministry has asked MoRTH to go slow until Cabinet approval is received.
The minister expressed hope that toll operators will respond to his call positively. Earlier, Gadkari had asked NHAI to suspend toll on all national highways to ease transportation of essential goods and supplies.
Rights of toll collection in 96 toll plazas on highways under the National Highways Authority of India will be offered to the private sector.
Inadequate funding and non-viability of some projects have forced several leading infrastructure development firms to stay out of bidding for over 13 highway projects worth over Rs 12,500 crore (Rs 125 billion).
"We have conveyed this to the road transport ministry. We go for environment approval for all land we acquire, but land with environment issues requires more approvals," said a senior NHAI official, who did not want to be identified.
Expressway construction is part of the sixth phase of the National Highways Development Programme.
After the success of the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI's) first infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) with foreign institutional investors, the Centre is working on a proposal to launch a fresh InvIT for national highways, where domestic retail investors can hold units of the trust
Raut was responding to a reporter's question about opposition parties' claim that Gadkari was targeted through the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on alleged irregularities in the work done by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
For the current financial year, NHAI will receive Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) as its share of road cess and its annuity payments are in the same range.
The prime minister's committee on infrastructure has finalised a proposal for restructuring the National Highway Authority of India.
Nearly 240 projects were under various stages of implementation.
According to a survey, of the 190 infrastructure projects facing delays, 70 per cent were delayed due to land acquisition problems. Forty projects by NHAI, 60 being implemented by Indian Railways and 28 power projects are facing difficulties in acquiring land. SLUs would expedite the time taken.
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In 2013, the government awarded less than 1,500 km of road projects under the EPC mode after it found no takers for PPP projects.
The NHAI board is considering a proposal to give 40 per cent of the annuity payment to the contractors upfront and the remaining amount later in instalments.
Highways regulator the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has exceeded its toll revenue target in the fiscal 2008-09, collecting taxes to the tune of Rs 1,702 crore (Rs 17.02 billion).
The B K Chaturvedi committee set up to recommend ways to implement road projects faster and more efficiently, has recommended that the National Highways Authority of India be given sovereign guarantees on the loans it raises from the market.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a 418 feet national flag, the tallest in the country, at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab's Amritsar district.
Proposals have been received for preparing the project report for the 600-km Delhi-Katra Expressway
While activity in the highway segment has been slow, the bid pipeline saw recovery in January 2024, and awards are expected to improve in Q4FY24. The national highway (NH) bid pipeline has recovered from a low of Rs 15,900 crore in December 2023 to Rs 68,400 crore at present. The NHAI's pipeline stands at Rs 66,100 crore, with hybrid annuity model (HAM), build operate transfer (BOT) and engineering procurement and construction (EPC) projects accounting for 60 per cent, 29 per cent and 13 per cent share, respectively.
The National Payments Corporation of India on Thursday granted approval to Paytm-owner One97 Communications Ltd to participate in UPI as a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) under the multi-bank model. Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, and YES Bank will act as Payment System Provider (PSP) banks to Paytm.
A report by a senior official in the Planning Commission has said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is heading towards bankruptcy, as its debt is set to increase five times in the next three years.
The highway authority's annual toll earning for 2009-10 was in the range of Rs 1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion) from 141 public-funded toll plazas in the country.
Armed with permission to issue Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) of tax-free bonds in 2011-12, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will issue the first lot worth Rs 2,500 crore by mid-May.
NHAI had earlier planned to go for private placement in order to raise funds faster but later decided to go in for the public issue due to the prevailing interest rate scenario.
The government needs about Rs 3.31 lakh crore (Rs 3.31 trillion) to meet its target of developing 35,000 kms of national highways over the next five years.
Rat-hole mining may be illegal but the talent and experience of rat-hole miners were used in the rescue operation to save the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel, a National Disaster Management Authority member said on Tuesday.
'The revenue projection arises out of all sectors doing well and the formalisation of the economy helps in making sure the tax domain gets widened.'
According to experts, slopes in Himachal have become highly vulnerable to landslides due to cutting of rocks at the foothills and the lack of proper drainage system, and high intensity rainfall is making the things worse for the state.
Machinery and manpower have been deployed, but stones falling from the hills are obstructing the road opening work, the officials said.
The economic reforms started by Singh as the finance minister in 1991 gave a new direction to India as it ushered in a liberal economy, Gadkari said.
Capital expenditure by 54 large central public sector enterprises and five departmental arms, having a capex minimum target of Rs 100 crore, rose 93 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the April-May period to Rs 1.39 trillion. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Railways have started this financial year's capex cycle on a stronger note. In the first two months of FY24, the 54 CPSEs, along with the departmental arms, achieved 19 per cent of their combined budget target of Rs 7.33 trillion, Business Standard has learnt.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the government will approach the capital market this month to raise funds for road projects. Addressing an event, he said toll revenue of the NHAI will soar to Rs 1.40 lakh crore per annum in next three years from Rs 40,000 crore per annum currently. "This month, I will be approaching the capital market to raise funds for road projects...Our toll income is very good and NHAI's rating is AAA...I am 100 per cent sure that we will get a good response from the capital market," the Road Transport and Highways minister said.
We need to have patience as it is a dangerous operation,NDMA member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said.
State-owned NHAI has created a Guinness World Record for the longest continuously laid bituminous lane of 75 kilometres in 105 hours and 33 minutes on the national highway between Amravati and Akola districts in Maharashtra. Mentioning about the record, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the project was implemented by 720 workers including a team of independent consultants who worked day and night. The total length of the 75 kilometres of single lane continuous bituminous concrete road is equivalent to 37.5 kilometres of two-lane paved shoulder road and the work started on June 3, at 7:27 am and was completed on June 7, at 5 pm, the minister said in a video message.
Bommai rejected all the key infrastructure related proposals of Kerala, saying it will damage the eco-sensitive zones and wildlife sanctuaries.
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