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Highway infrastructure projects take a beating

NEW DELHI: In what could have a telling impact and pull down infrastructure growth, 207 out of 516 Central government projects, costing not less than Rs. 100 crore or more mostly from the highways sector across the country, are facing delays or running behind schedule.

According to the information furnished by the Government to Parliament, 105 out of total 181 projects are running behind schedule in the highways sector. Also, of the 909 infrastructure projects worth Rs. 4,18,567 crore, 346 projects are running behind schedule, which is likely to have a negative impact on the infrastructure growth story. The cost overrun in the 346 delayed projects is estimated to be around Rs. 24,689 crore, which is 13.34 per cent of the approved cost. The reasons for the cost overrun in the 346 projects include delays in implementation, change in scope of projects, interest on borrowed capital during construction and exchange rate variations in the projects funded by external loans.

In a reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways K. H. Muniyappa said in 2007-08, as against the target of 2,885 km for completion of construction across all phases of the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP), the achievement was a meagre 114 km. Progress of work has been affected due to delays in land acquisition, shifting of utilities, obtaining environmental clearance and poor performance by the local contractors working on these projects. Of the awarded length of 2,075 km for NHDP Phase III, only 584 km could be completed. Also of the awarded length of 1,030 km in Phase V, only 38 km could be completed. In fact, it was also revealed that the World Bank has expressed concern over the slow progress of five packages of the Lucknow-Muzzaffarpur National Highways project (LMNHP) but has not stopped funding for the projects.

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