Road Ministry urges PPP for quality highway projects

In an effort to address concerns about construction quality in government-funded or EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) highway projects, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has called upon the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and other highway ministry branches to increase their engagement in Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects. PPP initiatives hold contractors more accountable for their construction quality as they recover their investments from tolls or receive payments over time.Gadkari, speaking at a workshop attended by top highway engineers, expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of road construction in contracts executed under the EPC mode by various highway agencies. He emphasised that the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) and Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) projects tend to exhibit better quality. Urging the agencies to expedite their efforts, he noted the upcoming election year's urgency, stating, We are very impatient; it's an election year, and we need to deliver fast.Union Road Transport Secretary Anurag Jain echoed these concerns, attributing the issue to poor workmanship and questioning why contractors do not deliver better quality given the payments made to them. Jain urged officials to avoid the blame game and take responsibility for scrutinising Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) and monitoring independent engineers. He stressed the need to adhere to protocols for laboratory checks set up by contractors to ensure superior quality work.Minister of State for Highways, Gen (retd) V K Singh, acknowledged the achievements in highway development but cautioned that even minor issues draw criticism for highway agencies. Minister Gadkari directed officials to prepare a roadmap for immediate execution of up to Rs 3000 billion worth of projects and warned of consequences for delays and associated problems. He urged officials to address public concerns promptly, given the active presence of social media, vowing to take action if issues are not resolved. If you want to learn more about Indian Roads, make sure you sign-up for the India Roads Conference at the India Construction Festival on October 12th in New Delhi Click HERE and reserve your seats! Or call Deepali on 82919 95574....