Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari is set to spearhead a crucial meeting this month aimed at addressing the significant backlog of stalled highway projects across India.
The initiative comes amidst growing concerns over delays, cost escalations, and bureaucratic bottlenecks plaguing infrastructure development in the country. The meeting, which will bring together top officials from various ministries and key stakeholders including contractors, seeks to streamline inter-ministerial coordination and accelerate the implementation of critical highway projects. Highlighting the urgency of the matter, it aims to tackle the highest number of stalled projects compared to other infrastructure sectors.
The primary hurdles contributing to project delays include protracted processes of land acquisition and environmental clearances. These bottlenecks not only extend project timelines but also escalate costs significantly, posing viability challenges for ongoing and proposed ventures. “Coordination gaps among different government bodies have been a persistent issue, adversely affecting the timely execution of road projects,” noted an official familiar with the matter. The upcoming summit will also deliberate on financing issues, delays in finalizing project scopes, and procedural delays in obtaining technical approvals, among other critical aspects.
Commenting on the complexities surrounding land acquisition and Official from CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics explained that discrepancies in land records and legal disputes often lead to prolonged delays. “Many transactions go unrecorded, complicating the acquisition process and contributing to project time overruns,” he added. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) reports a substantial number of infrastructure projects experiencing cost overruns, totaling over INR 5.71 lakh crore as of April 2024. Out of the 1,817 projects reviewed, 399 road transport and highways projects have faced delays beyond their original schedules, with an additional 146 projects encountering extended delays.
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