Centre flags land, green tape hurdles in infra projects

New Delhi: The Centre, last month, red flagged to states how delays in land acquisition, green clearances, state permissions and utility shifting are seriously impacting the pace of national linear infrastructure projects besides inflicting heavy cost overruns, ET has learnt. The concerns were shared with states ahead of the Sixth National Conference of Chief Secretaries, which will deliberate on 'Accelerating Linear Infrastructure projects'.


The key trigger: While the national $30-trillion economy ambition rests considerably on central sector linear infrastructure projects, a PRAGATI-based project analysis reveals that 75% of delays are due to four 'pre-construction' factors: land acquisition/right of way, green clearances, utility shifting and state permissions.



Points shared with states:

* Cost for central linear projects jumped up by ₹3 lakh crore over original cost of ₹31 lakh crore due to pre-construction linked delays.

* A PRAGATI review of over 3,300 infrastructure projects worth ₹85 lakh crore revealed that delays due to land acquisition accounted for the highest -- 35% of all issues.

* Forest clearances, which should be granted within 150 days, are taking over 500 days. Wildlife clearance processes stretch 1.5-3.5 years while environmental clearances can take 180 days to 2.5 years.

* Average time for completing utility shifting is 500-600 days against the expected 200-300 days.

* Developers of central linear infrastructure are required to obtain 22 approvals/permits across 16 different state agencies in the absence of single window mechanisms.

Poor Landing

Land acquisition is the top delay-causing factor. A 'land acquisition efficiency' ranking of states conducted by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH) shows that Haryana tops the rankings with a 75.8 score followed by Madhya Pradesh (66.2), Rajasthan (65.9), Andhra Pradesh (63.8) and Chhattisgarh and Kerala at 63. Surprisingly, Tamil Nadu (45.4), Maharashtra (43.6) and Gujarat at the bottom with 30.5 score earned on efficiency of land acquisition for national highways.

Green Tape

Environment ministry's PARIVESH 2.0 analysis shows that time taken for forest, wildlife and environmental clearances cumulatively, including state and central agencies, ranges 2-4 years. Despite the Union Environment ministry undertaking multiple reforms to reduce time at their end from 105 days to 61 days for environmental clearance, linear projects continue to face 'long delays in getting approvals'.

Permit Raj

Utility shifting involving water, sewer pipes, electricity cables and towers continues to be a pain point -- the average time for utility shifting is 500-600 days against the expected 200-300 days. Add to this the numerous state-administered permissions for project sites, construction material and equipment.

SOLUTIONS PROPOSED

*A single, time-bound, portal-based process for land acquisition and green clearances processed parallelly, rather than sequentially

* Utility shifting to be treated as a project in itself with clear timelines and accountability

* A single point of ownership in every state for construction-input permission and pre-construction readiness.