Road projects worth Rs 2-l cr on fast track

NEW DELHI: Under the direction of the Prime Minister, the ministry of road transport and highways is expediting implementation of highway projects estimated at Rs 2,20,000 crore.

The ministry has set a target of awarding 175 contracts covering a length of 15,803 km on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis by March 2008. This target is estimated at a cost of Rs 76,544 crore under different phases of the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP).

NHDP Phase III, which is aimed at four-laning 10,000 km of highways on BOT toll, is estimated at Rs 65,197 crore. By March 2008, 7,177 km of Phase III will be awarded at an estimated cost of Rs 46,794 crore, official sources said. The target for Phases II, III, IV and V taken together is to award 15,803 km by 2008.

Phase I of NHDP is virtually complete, a senior official said, but the balance work which the government expects to complete in two years is estimated at Rs 8,811 crore. The balance work on Phase II is estimated at Rs 43,623 crore. Phase IV is estimated at Rs 27,800 crore on BOT annuity basis.

No contract is awarded in Phase IV at present. Phase V, comprising six-laning of 6,500 km of national highways at an estimated cost of Rs 41,210 crores was given cabinet clearance on Thursday. Phases VI and VII are estimated at a cost of Rs 16,680 crore each on design-build-finance-operate (DBFO) and BOT annuity basis.

Public private partnership (PPP) is turning out to be the preferred pattern of infrastructure development. So far, 64 contracts covering 3,655 km at a cost of Rs 23,413 crore have been awarded under PPP. Of this, however, only 15 contracts costing Rs 4,601 crore have been completed, the source said.

The PPP progress report so far shows that 42 contracts have been awarded under BOT toll, 20 contracts under BOT annuity and two contracts are under DBFO model. Together, these amount to Rs 23,403 crore.

Of a targeted financial target of Rs 3,222 crore for the 2006-07 period, the achievement up to August 2006 is Rs 2081 crore. In terms of physical target for the same period, of 1,184 km targeted, the achievement up to August 2006 was 598 km.