After reviewing over 700 ongoing national highways projects in the country, the Road Ministry has identified 300 projects for completion by March next. Of these, about 100 projects are likely to be completed by December this year.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said “the construction target of NHAI for the year 2018-19 has been revised upwards from 5,058 km to 6,000 km.” He hoped it will be met.

Gadkari said he had reviewed 427 projects of NHAI and 311 projects of National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, 127 NHAI projects and 153 Ministry projects, which were scheduled for completion by June 2019. Gadkari also said he will soon hold meetings with the heads of major banks to sort out issues related to flow of funds. Delay in land acquisition and utility shifting, environment clearance and permission for cutting of trees have been identified as some of the main reasons for delay of highways projects. The Minister lauded the performance of States like Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh in sorting out issues and helping expedite highways projects. States like Bihar and Odisha on the other hand, need to greatly improve their performance in this regard.

Faulty DPRs have been found to be another reason for the delay. Very often detailed project reports are made without taking actual ground realities into consideration. It has been decided to compile a list of projects that have been delayed for this reason. The consultants making faulty DPRs will be penalised and blacklisted.

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