Project files should be cleared in 3 days: Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said all files pertaining to highway projects should be cleared in three days, sending a stern warning to officials who delay rollout of projects.

"Despite being a minister I can’t get officials to clear files. Now I have set a three-day timeline to dispose all files. Officials who don’t do that will have to face the music," Gadkari said at an event organised by the Indian Academy of Highway Engineers ( IAHE) and Project Management Institute ( PMI).

Delays impact projects, which is not acceptable, and records are being prepared to check unnecessary delays by officials, he said.

Gadkari said his ministry would award projects worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore in the current year and the country would add 15,000 km of highway roads by March next year.

India currently has over 1 lakh km of national highways. The minister said private sector interest in the highways sector is seeing a revival and that contracts awarded under the newly conceived hybrid annuity model are receiving good response from private players.