In its effort to improve the quality of roads after blocking Chinese infrastructure firms, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has decided to undertake performance assessment and ranking of the highways in the country. The assessment audit and ranking of the NH is aimed to take corrective recourse, wherever needed, to improve the quality and provide higher level of service to highway commuters.

A senior Road Transport Ministry official said the move is also aimed to encourage competition amongst the Indian road and infrastructure firms to provide world class facilities after the Government announced not to allow Chinese firms in the projects. He also mentioned that Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has already stated that when small projects can be undertaken by Indian firms then they should be given opportunities for large scale highways projects subject they meet quality and standards.

“The assessment parameters are based on different international practices and studies for benchmarking highway performances in Indian context. The criteria for the assessment have been broadly categorised in three main heads: Highway Efficiency (45%), Highway Safety (35%) and User Services (20%),” said a Road Ministry official. On the basis of outcome of the assessment, the authority will undertake a comprehensive analysis and decide on the level of intervention required to enhance the overall service quality.

Additionally, important parameters like operating speed, access control, time taken at toll plaza, road signages, road markings, accident rate, incident response time, crash barriers, illumination, availability of Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS), functionality of structures, provision for grade separated intersections, cleanliness, plantation, wayside amenities and customer satisfaction will also be considered while conducting the assessment.

The score obtained by each Corridor in each of the parameter will provide a feedback and corrective recourse for higher standards of operation, better safety and user experience to improve existing highways.

This will also help in identifying and filling gaps of design, standards, practices, guidelines and contract agreements for other NHAI projects.

The ranking of the corridors will be dynamic and the concessionaire/ contractor/ operator will get the opportunity to improve upon their ranking by improving the services on that corridor.

Apart from overall ranking of all the corridors, separate ranking for BOT, HAM and EPC projects will also be done. This process of ranking will bring out operational efficiency and ensure high quality maintenance of roads.