The government today said as many as 131 highway projects are running behind schedule due to delays in land acquisition besides other reasons.
"One-thirty-one projects have been delayed mainly due to problems associated with land acquisition, shifting of utilities, obtaining environment and forest clearance, approval for road Over bridges, poor performance of some contractors due to cash flow constraints and other reasons, law and order problems in some states etc," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways R P N Singh told Lok Sabha.
Singh said award of projects under build, operate, transfer mode under public-private-partnership were also affected due to the global economic meltdown which affected the ability of private investors and developers to raise necessary finance for projects.
He added that collaboration for highway projects between Indian and Malaysian governments were also on the cards.
"On behalf of the Ministry of Works, government of Malaysia, the Construction Industry Development Board, Malaysia (CIDB) have expressed their interest to collaborate on highway related projects on a government to government basis with the Indian government. No agreement has been signed yet," he said.