NHAI can now clear road projects up to Rs 500 cr

NEW DELHI: The government has done away with the Cabinet’s approval for clearing road sector projects to hasten their implementation. Highway projects up to Rs 500 crore will now be cleared by NHAI, while projects above Rs 500 crore would require the Public Private Partnership-Appraisal Committee’s (PPP-AC) approval. So far, NHAI could clear projects up to Rs 100 crore and projects greater than that required approvals of PPP-AC and Cabinet Committee on Economic Affair (CCEA).

Approval norms have also been eased for port and shipping projects. Now, only projects above Rs 250 crore would be referred to the PPP-AC. The earlier limit was Rs 100 crore. “The move is aimed at speedy execution of projects through faster clearances,” a government official said.

“Raising the limit of the NHAI’s approval for highway projects from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore will ensure quick approval and is a welcome step. The process of sending projects to PPP-AC is a lengthy procedure. Clearances often take up to three months,” the official said. The procedure is time consuming since PPP-AC raises objections and queries which the concerned ministry has to respond to.

The government will award national highway projects worth Rs 35,000 crore in the fiscal 2007-08. The government has set a target of awarding 175 contracts covering a length of 15,803 km on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis by March 2008. The contracts are under different phases of the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP).

An investment of about $350 billion is required for infrastructure in the next five years. The government has given top priority to public private partnership (PPP) projects in roads, ports, airports and urban infrastructure. Execution and timely implementation of infrastructure projects has been repeatedly stressed upon by both the industry and government. The provision of fewer bureaucratic clearances is expected to expedite progress in the field.