The Financial Year 2017-18 yielded projects worth over Rs 1,220 billion. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) awarded 150 such projects, the highest number in the latter half of last decade. In last 5 years, the average length of road projects awarded by NHAI was 2,860 km compared to 7,400 km in FY 17-18. This is a record accomplishment by National Highways Authority of India since its inception back in 1995.

From the 150 projects awarded in FY 17-18, a stretch of 3,791 km was awarded on EPC mode at a figure of Rs 430 billion and 3,396 km was awarded on Hybrid Annuity mode at a cost of Rs 765 billion and the remaining 209 km on Toll mode at a cost of Rs 25 billion. According to the official statement, tendering and awarding of projects accelerated only after approval of the Bharatmala Pariyojana and establishment of a new procedure for sanction put in place in November 2017.

Bharatmala Pariyojana is a centrally-funded roads and highways project of the Government of India. The project covers a network which is 83,677 km wide with the estimated investment in excess of Rs 5.35 lakh crore. The project will build highways connecting Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab, and then the entire string of the Himalayan States namely Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Some border areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are also part of this grand road networking plan. Connecting far-flung border and rural areas is the main agenda behind the initiation of this project. Bharatmala will also raise the number of corridors to 50 (from current 6).

In the run, post-Bharatmala, 232 projects were put on tender covering over 11,200 km of road length with costs exceeding Rs 1,960 billion. The projects granted include coverage of 1,234 km in Rajasthan, 747 km in Odisha, 739 km in Maharashtra, 725 km in Uttar Pradesh, 511 km in Tamil Nadu, 504 km in Andhra Pradesh, 468 km in Karnataka and balance in other states. It is widely expected that projects with coverage of around 3000 km will be awarded in the first two months of FY 2018-19 itself.


For more details visit: http://www.nhai.gov.in/