National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has finalised awarding of 100 projects in the fourth quarter of 2010-11. Around 14,000 km of identified road projects, worth around Rs 1 lakh crore, are in various stages of award process and will be awarded in the last quarter of this financial year.
Minister Kamal Nath had set a target to build roads at 20 km-a-day, increasing it from the earlier pace of around 3 km-a-day. He set a target of awarding over 200 projects with a value of over Rs 2 lakh crore in the two financial years ending March 2011. In contrast, NHAI was able to award only 65 projects. According to a recent report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, NHAI widened or upgraded only 859.93 km of roads, against a target of 1,168.97 km. NHAI has been postponing bid due dates for 12 highway projects worth Rs 12,000 crore since the beginning of 2010. Many of these projects have witnessed extension of financial bidding on more than one occasion, with the maximum being six times.
Contact: NHAI Tel: + 91 11 2507 4100 Web: www.nhai.org
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