Highway projects on slow track

CHENNAI, Mar 9: The road to the privatisation of two major four-laning projects on the national highway have hit speed-breakers. The bidding...

CHENNAI, Mar 9: The road to the privatisation of two major four-laning projects on the national highway have hit speed-breakers. The bidding process for the four-laning of the NH-45 in Tamil Nadu and NH-8 in Rajasthan with an estimated investment of Rs 480 crore is under wraps.

The draft concession agreement for the two projects was expected to have been finalised last Monday (March 2nd). However, a meeting between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the bidders scheduled for that day did not take place.

“The cabinet has to ratify the draft concession

agreement. However, the current political situation may have influenced the NHAI’s decision to postpone the meeting to finalise the agreement,” top sources from among the bidders.

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Securitisation norms of funding institutions on build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) road projects is another issue which has to be tackled before the project can take off, some bidders added.

The Reliance Industries-Carter Burgess consortium, the Renong group,Larsen & Tourbo, HO HUP-Maika Hassi consortium and Satyam Construction Ltd are in the race for the 104 km NH-45 project in Tamil Nadu. The project is likely to entail an investment of Rs 180 crore. The Reliance consortium, L&T, Renong and Gayathri projects are the bidders for the 93 km, NH-8 project, expected to come up at an investment of Rs 300 crore.

Meanwhile, bids for the Rs 200 crore NH-7 four-laning project in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are set to come in before the end of April this year. The Reliance-Carter Burgess Consortium, L&T, Renong, IRCON, Gayatri Projects and the GVK Enterprises are in the race for the four-laning of this 94 km stretch.

Many road projects have been delayed recently due to the uncertainty on the political front, it is said. Industry associations like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have expressed concern over this and are likely to call upon the new government to kickstart investments in infrastructure.

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According to CII estimates, about 14,000 km of two-lanehighways have to be widened to four-lane or more over the next ten to fifteen years. This is likely to involve an investment or Rs 42,000 crore. Similarly about Rs 5,200 crore is to be invested in widening 5,200 km of single-lane to two-lane highways. A total investment of Rs 80,000 crore is needed in the roads sector over the next ten to fifteen years, according to the report.