The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has tightened plantation and landscaping requirements for National Highway projects, making compliance a condition for issuing the Provisional Certificate of Completion (PCC) or Provisional Commercial Operation Date (PCOD). The revised norms apply to plantation planned along highway medians, avenues and other designated areas.

Plantation must cover at least 80 per cent of the available Right of Way (ROW) earmarked for the purpose. Saplings must also record a minimum 90 per cent survival rate during inspection for a project to satisfy plantation-related requirements for provisional completion certification.

NHAI said the requirements were intended to enforce contractual obligations and make plantation and landscaping integral parts of highway development and project completion. Work must follow the applicable contract or concession agreement, the Green Highways Policy, 2015, IRC:SP:21-2009 and other directions issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and NHAI.

Any shortfall from the prescribed 80 per cent coverage must be recorded with a specific timeline for completing the remaining work. NHAI will enforce financial withholdings where provided under the relevant contract or concession agreement until outstanding plantation is completed and the required coverage is achieved.

The authority has also linked plantation maintenance to payments during the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) period. For projects delivered through Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC), Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Annuity models, O&M or annuity payments will depend on maintaining at least a 90 per cent survival rate. In BOT-Toll projects, the same requirement will be considered in maintenance assessments.

Dead or damaged plants must be replaced promptly with plants of similar age and growth to preserve uniformity, density and continuity. Before processing payments or certifying maintenance compliance, NHAI will seek assistance from environment and plantation experts to verify field conditions. The revised guidelines address earlier shortcomings and seek to embed environmental sustainability in both highway construction and long-term maintenance.