In a major policy decision, which will help expedite the construction of 34 stuck highway projects in the country, the Government authorised the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to pay compensation to road developers, in case of delays not attributable to them.
The decision was taken in a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday.
“The Cabinet has taken a bold decision to allow the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to go into the merits of each case and wherever the delays are not attributable to the developer, to extend the tolling period if that should be required and take such measures, which will once again revive these toll projects and get them to operation, said Piyush Goyal, Coal and Power Minister.
“Thirty four projects will significantly benefit from this decision and infra sector will get a boost from the decision, while highways building will be fast-tracked,” he added.
The CCEA has given its approval for authorising the NHAI to allow extension of concession period for all current projects in BOT (Toll) mode that are languishing during the construction period due to causes not attributable to the concessionaire.
“The decision regarding eligibility of projects for the extension of concession period, and the extent of time extension required may be taken by NHAI on a case to case basis based on the recommendation of the concerned Independent Engineer (IE),” said the statement issued by the CCEA.
Authority shall follow the guidelines while determining the period of delay not attributable to the concessionaire, it said adding, the projects using the special dispensation shall have to achieve physical completion in the next three years.
In another big move to boost road infrastructure, the government today empowered Road Transport and Highways Ministry to approve projects with civil construction cost up to `1,000 crore. This would be done by segregating civil construction cost from capital cost of projects.