To improve efficiency and remove bottlenecks in completion of projects from the very start, the Ministry for Roads, Transport and Highways has drawn up new guidelines for officials for preparing the Detailed Project Reports for proposed highways and roads.
Recently, Minister for Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari blamed ‘ambitious’ and ‘impractical’ DPRs as the reason for most infrastructure projects missing the documented deadlines. At the moment, at least 80 per cent road projects are running behind schedule. Speaking at a public forum, Gadkari expressed dissatisfaction over the current drafting of DPRs and said that an overhaul in the entire process is required at the earliest.
“The Minister was concerned that most DPRs that are being drafted are impractical and do not take into account the hurdles and required timeframe for resolving major bottlenecks in project completion like land acquisitions and forest and environmental clearances,” said an official from the Ministry. According to the new guidelines, new DPRs will be drafted in two phases-first with estimated deadlines for achieving mandatory environmental clearances and acquiring land for the projects and second with actual project completion (construction) deadlines after completion the first phase.
“The Minister has put in place a new system of drafting DPRs. From now onwards all project reports have to be submitted in two stages,” said a Ministry official. “The Minister also wants to put in place a system to track the movement of files. To ensure that files do not stagnate on the table of the officials for too long,” he said.
In an internal communication to the officials, the Minister has said that he will soon put up all projects online to ensure better transparency in file movement. Gadkari is also believed to have warned officials that a delay of over three days in file clearances may attract penalty.