National Roads & Highways Summit – Opportunities, Issues & Solutions

28th June, 2013 at 10:00 a.m., PHD House, New Delhi

The Roads, Ports & Other Infrastructure Committee of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry organized the 'National Roads & Highways Summit- Opportunities, Issues & Solutions' on the 28th of June, 2013 at PHD House, New Delhi. The Summit was attended by more than 150 distinguished delegates comprising of senior government officials from Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, National Highways Authority of India, Border Roads Organization; senior officials from Government aided organizations such as Central Road Research institute; senior officials from Embassies; senior officials from private infrastructure companies specializing in Roads & Highways such as Reliance Infrastructure, Gayatri Projects Limited, GMR, Srei Infrastructure Finance; consultants and professionals working in the roads sector; representatives from Industry; Media and many more.

The Chief Guest at the Summit was Mr. Gajendra Haldea, Advisor Infrastructure, Planning Commission, Govt of India.

A Research Report titled 'A View Point of PHD Chamber and Infraline on Roads & Highways in India' published by Infraline Energy, the Research Partner for the Summit was also released by the Chief Guest on the occasion.

Mr. Gajendra Haldea in his Keynote Address stated that introduction of PPP required restructuring of institutions but unfortunately the institutional framework has not been created even within NHAI. He further apprised the delegates that the Planning Commission is formulating a 'Dispute Settlement Bill' which will resolve disputes in road projects to a great extent.

Mr. Anil Swarup, IAS, Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat in his Special Address apprised the delegates that the Cabinet Secretariat has created a single Web portal for all project developers through which they can communicate their problems with regard to a particular Ministry.

Mr. Suman Jyoti Khaitan, President, PHD Chamber .in his Welcome Address emphasized the need to enhance the capacity as well as the quality of roads in the country. He urged the authorities to address the constraints in this sector on a priority basis.

Mr. Ashish Wig, Chairman, Roads, Ports & Other Infrastructure Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry in his presentation of the 'Industry Perspective' urged the policymakers to address the bottlenecks faced by the concessionaires with regard to highway projects.

The Summit had two Technical Sessions on 'Financial & Contractual Issues in Roads & Highways' and 'Global Advances in Technology & Material' where distinguished speakers from NHAI, Khaitan & Partners, SBI Capital Markets, CRRI as well as from Private Industry gave valuable suggestions for the roads and highways sector. The Summit also had two Panel discussions on 'Environmental Clearances in Road/Highway Projects' and 'CEO's & CFO's Perspective on Project Execution challenges and Proposed Highway Regulator's role' which was addressed by CEO's of Reliance Infrastructure, GMR, Gayatri Projects, Srei Infrastructure and Metro Infrasys. . Almost all the speakers and delegates felt the need for the regulator in the Roads and Highway Sector with full powers and accountability.