NHAI to monitor highway projects with abnormally low bids

Highways projects are being sold to private players at abnormally low prices, and now they will be put under a separate list for critical monitoring by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The concerned officers would need to ensure that the contractors have used adequate resources and visit the sites every fortnight to see the actual progress. The NHAI issued a circular to deal with abnormally low bids (ALBs). According to the media reports, private bidders are quoting low prices for government-funded highway projects, and this has become a matter of concern, and also flagged by a parliamentary standing committee. The number of bidders for these projects has grown notably since the government did away with a required deposit of extra bid security from contractors who quote low prices. Many of the projects have been bid out at 20-30% less than the price proposed by the government companies. As per the NHAI circular, ALBs would be classified separately in the data lake (central database of all projects). So that details uploaded there can be observed by the concerned technical division's project director and regional officer. Monthly reports would be produced for monitoring and perusal. It is now compulsory for officers concerned to take measures to ensure the contractors use required resources and examine monthly drone videography of work. NHAI would deploy more engineers for day-to-day observation. Quality inspections would be conducted once in three months for projects bid out under more than 20%, and for those tendered under 10% to 20%, these inspections would be conducted every six months. The policy says the regional officers, the project directors, and people from headquarters would be required to conduct inspections at worksites every fortnight, every two to three months. Image Source Also read: NHAI mandates drone surveillance for all highway projects Also read: Govt mandates safety audits at all stages of road development