{"id":58502,"date":"2025-06-26T15:00:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T09:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanacres.in\/?p=58502"},"modified":"2025-06-26T15:00:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T09:30:56","slug":"centre-enforces-stricter-pre-bid-highway-norms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/?p=58502","title":{"rendered":"Centre enforces stricter pre\u2011bid highway norms"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Union government has revised its highway bidding framework, now mandating land, environmental, forest and wildlife clearances before tender invitations, a strategic shift designed to accelerate project delivery and reduce contractual delays. In a circular issued on 6 May 2025, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) directed that alignment approval must trigger the start of all statutory clearance processes, and no bids can be invited unless these are complete.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Project right\u2011of\u2011way notifications must extend to 90\u202fper\u202fcent of the total land before issuing bid invitations, reversing the previous norm under which only 90\u202fper\u202fcent land acquisition was needed to solicit bids. MoRTH has also fixed a 60\u2011day deadline post\u2011alignment finalisation to initiate land acquisition under Section\u202f3A of the National Highways Act, 1956, ensuring early notification of intent. Before the Letter of Award is issued, over 90\u202fper\u202fcent possession must be achieved, including compensation payments through Section 3G. The tightening of pre\u2011bid conditions also extends to clearances from agencies like Indian Railways or the Inland Waterways Authority of India, and ensures that design and utility shifting estimates are set before bidding begins.<\/h4>\n

MoRTH plans to put roughly 9,000\u202fkm of national highway works on tender in FY26. The earlier approach\u2014where land and approvals were secured post\u2011award\u2014often triggered delays in execution and led to cost escalations. According to the parliamentary standing committee, roughly 683 projects initiated since 2014 have suffered time overruns, with 55\u202fper\u202fcent behind schedule as of December 2024. These delays frequently stemmed from incomplete land acquisition or pending clearances, creating room for legal disputes and contractor claims. The previous norm\u2014inviting bids before full clearances\u2014also induced speculative tendering. Rating agency ICRA noted that many central highway contracts were awarded at steep discounts of around 25\u202fper\u202fcent, encouraging financially unviable bids. MoRTH\u2019s new requirement for additional performance security (APS) seeks to deter under\u2011bidding by scaling penalties proportionally to bid discounts and eliminating the earlier 3\u202fper\u202fcent cap.<\/h4>\n

Analysts from ICRA and other consultancies say these reforms should enhance project execution discipline and boost quality. ICRA\u2019s Modani warns that small and mid\u2011sized contractors may face greater working\u2011capital constraints due to higher bank guarantee needs, though the policy may benefit larger, financially robust firms over time. This policy shift aligns with MoRTH\u2019s iterative refinement of the flagship Bharatmala programme, where adherence to quality and timelines has been challenged by erratic contractor performance and inconsistent enforcement. Infrastructure stakeholders say timely clearances free contractors to mobilise and reduce uncertainty-driven cost escalations. However, detractors caution about potential delays in project rollout if clearances themselves face bureaucratic bottlenecks. Land\u2011owner opposition remains a perennial challenge in several states .<\/h4>\n

From a sustainability standpoint, synchronising clearances upfront provides an opportunity for integrated planning. With environmental assessments done pre\u2011bid, highways could be designed to embed mitigation measures automatically\u2014such as wildlife crossings, pollution controls and green corridors\u2014thus advancing India\u2019s goal of low\u2011carbon, resilient cities. As MoRTH prepares to award 9,000\u202fkm of national highways, these pre\u2011emptive rule changes signal a move from reactive contracts to coordinated execution. Whether the reforms translate into better outcomes depends heavily on inter-agency collaboration, the timeliness of regulatory approvals, and the resilience of contractors and communities to these more disciplined structures. With the stage set for large\u2011scale bidding from June 2025, the coming year will test whether India’s road infrastructure can shed historical risks of delays and cost overruns \u2014 and evolve into a predictable backbone for equitable, sustainable urban and rural connectivity.<\/h4>\n

Also Read :Bhopals 90-Degree Bridge Sparks Safety Concerns<\/a><\/p>\n

Centre enforces stricter pre\u2011bid highway norms<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Union government has revised its highway bidding framework, now mandating land, environmental, forest and wildlife clearances before tender invitations, a strategic shift designed to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146,147,148],"tags":[12866,77113,34161,336,77114,77115,204],"class_list":["post-58502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-news","category-urban-news","tag-environmental-clearances","tag-highway-bidding-norms","tag-infrastructure-efficiency","tag-land-acquisition","tag-morth-reforms","tag-road-sector","tag-sustainable-cities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livzzy.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}