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This could slowdown country's attempt to lift its infrastructure with expeditious construction of roads
The award of contracts has slowed down since November last year after a directive from the ministry of road transport and highways stated that no new liabilities are to be created under the existing scheme --- Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase - 1 until a revised scheme is approved, people privy to the development said.
Work has come to a complete halt since the beginning of this financial year in April, they said. Officially, NHAI has maintained that no projects could be awarded except one project of 4 km until May with the approval of the Election Commission as compared to 382 km during the period in previous year due to the model code of conduct. However, government sources told ET no projects have been awarded even in June, when MCC was no longer in force, and this is primarily because of the absence of any scheme under which projects could be bid out.
In 2023-24, the road ministry awarded 611 km of road in the first quarter (April-June) compared to 969 km awarded during April-June 2022-23.
"There is a lag of four-six months from the date of award of projects hence we could see a potential dip in construction in the later part of this year," Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, senior director and global head, consulting, CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics, said. According to Padmanabhan, the early sanction of the second phase of Bharatmala programme will help in bidding out the approved projects.
NHAI has identified at least 15 road projects, spread over 937 km, worth ₹44,000 crore to be bid out on build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode in 2024-25.
NHAI, under the ministry of road transport and highways, is the key agency for bidding out road projects with over 50% share in the total annual construction. The other entities responsible for development of the highways network include the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL) and state government agencies. In 2023-24 NHAI constructed 6,644 km of roads, which is 53.8% of the total construction of 12,349 km in the previous fiscal year. Launched in October 2017, the government had envisaged constructing 74,942 km of national highways under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. Under the first phase, it had approved 34,800 km involving an investment of ₹5.35 lakh crore. However, the ministry of road transport and highways has now proposed to construct 50,000 km of national highways and expressways over the next 20 years with an estimated investment of ₹20 lakh crore.
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