NHAI shows state govts how to lay roads in time
While a state public works department takes around 72 months to complete a project, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) finishes the job in 24-30 months with just 500 employees.
The method is simple: it outsources all the work. The core team simply ensures that the project comes together seamlessly.
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In the past 50 years, according to NHAI officials, just 556 km of four- or six-lane highways were built, which works out to 11.12 km per year. In contrast, the NHAI will build 14,846 km of such highways by 2007, or 1,650 km a year.
For instance, the construction of the Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway was started by the public works department in 1984, but legal problems stalled it. The project, which was handed over to the NHAI in September 1999, will be completed by the end of 2003.
The public works department of Madhya Pra- desh has 46,000 employees, but has built just 1,000 km of roads in the past 15-16 years.
Apart from outsourcing construction and technical work, the NHAI will soon be handing out contracts for the maintenance of roads. For example, Intertoll of South Africa has an eight-year contract for maintaining the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
The NHAI