Within a week of approving Rs16,000 crore worth of highway projects under the Public Private Partnership mode, Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has backtracked saying that only Government funded projects are possible for the next two years at least as private developers are not coming forward for bidding processes.
“The Minister (Nitin Gadkari) has made it clear that we will have to go-ahead with the Engineering- Procurement- Construction (EPC) mode for all highway projects as the previous Government has left the highway sector in a mess because of a host of issues including land acquisition and environmental clearances,” said an official from the Ministry of Roads.
“Under the EPC mode, the Government bears all construction costs, while the developer only designs and builds the project on the bid price and exits on building the stretches. So, the developers undertake no risk in executing such projects unlike the PPP ones,” said the official.In a meeting with the stakeholders earlier this week, Gadkari said that his ministry is trying to arrange finances to take up projects on Government funding or EPC mode.
Gadkari had also said that financing of road projects may not be a problem as the Government is willing to allow foreign investors to buy stake in a Corporation formed by Road Ministry.
“The Government has already formed a corporation to fund projects and the ministry and officials are already in talks with some nations. Our Government has offered 26 per cent stake in the Corporation in lieu of funds to the tune of Rs one lakh crore and are hopeful of getting funds,” said an official.
The Ministry of Roads is also planning to lay gas, optical fibre and power transmission lines along the one lakh km national highways to generate revenue for the Government.