Ministry may miss 9,500 km road project target

Agency reports suggest that the union road ministry may not be able to award 9,500 km of projects, as was targeted, by the end of 2012-13 because several reasons like delays in environment clearances. Between Apr-Dec 2012, the ministry could award contracts for only 1,100 km of road projects. The main factors that impede road projects are delay in securing green clearances, problems in land acquisition and a slowdown in the economy, reports indicate. Government sources feel that the general economic scenario is quite poor and investment climate has also taken a hit. Besides, despite best efforts, it is not always possible to acquire land while there are delays in obtaining forest and environment clearances, official sources said a leading news agency. Major road project contractors are pulling out of projects because of delay in environment clearances and the road ministry along with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are finding ways to tackle the issue. While GVK Power and Infrastructure announced termination of its contract with NHAI recently for building a major highway - Shivpuri-Dewas Expressway in Madhya Pradesh -, another firm GMR Infrastructure had cancelled its contract with the authority for building the Kishangarh- Udaipur-Ahmedabad highway.