Bidding for new phase of NHDP set to start

Over the next three months, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to award contracts for the second phase of the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP). Contracts for 50 projects worth Rs 12,000 crore are to be awarded by December.

"The delay in awarding of contracts was because the authority was trying to finetune the bidding process and preparation of detailed project reports," a government official said.

The official said the financing plan for the second phase had already been cleared by the Public Investment Board (PIB). About 67 per cent or Rs 23,420 crore of the total project cost of Rs 35,000 crore will be financed through cess and market borrowings.

Another Rs 7,609 crore will come as external assistance from the Asian Development Bank and World Bank. Private players are expected to pump in the balance Rs 3,310 crore, though the official says more is expected from this source.

He said the authority planned to double the investment in annuity projects over last year, when its stood at Rs 2,354 crore. There would now be stricter pre-qualification norms to ensure that only those parties that had the financial muscle and technical expertise to complete these projects would be allowed to bid, he added.

This would help avoid the kind of delays faced in various stretches of the Golden Quadrilateral project, he further said.

The official said the detailed project reports for the second phase were more comprehensive as the authority had learnt from the experience of the Golden Quadrilateral project.

He added more under-passes and flyovers were included for convenience of residents of areas surrounding the national highways.