Road to success

Good roads are ahead for the Indian infrastructure sector. The government seems to have finally woken up to the fact that if it wants its ferry its lal batti vehicles on smooth roads, it needs to pump money into the sector. NHAI under the leadership of AK Upadhyay, Secretary to Government of India, Department of Road Transport and Highways, and Chairman, NHAI, recently announced his decision to award construction orders worth up to 15,000 crore in the next fiscal. The authority will award EPC orders for 2,000-3,000 km of roads in 2012-13. This is a shift from its previous strategy, where the authority mainly awarded projects through the BOT route. This failed to attract the private sector as these are low traffic routes, and hence not viable even if the government provided a viability-gap funding of 40 per cent. The EPC orders will therefore be a big boost for road builders that have been facing fierce competition in bids for road development projects. Happy riding!