 "Nitin Gadkari hopeful of fixing Rs 40,000 cr road project issues today")
As many as 19 projects entailing a capital investment of Rs 40,000 crore are stuck for long and "we are expecting a solution tonight...", Road Transport and Highways Minister Gadkari said.
Addressing the media after jointly chairing a meeting of bankers and developers of these stuck projects with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Gadkari said the government has already terminated 41 projects.
As many as 384 projects were stuck for the last 10 years due to various issues such as land acquisition, forest and environment clearances, railway over-bridge problems, utility shifting, litigations, delayed decisions and financial problems, he said adding that his government has "terminated 41 projects and solved problems related to all these projects barring 19".
Gadkari said the government had decided that "under no circumstances any project should be pending before January 31" and I expect the problems to be solved before night".
These projects include key national highways in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
The stuck projects belong to players like Larsen & Toubro, HCC, Gammon, Madhucon, Soma and Essel Infra, among others, while the list of lenders includes top names like State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of India.
"There are only 19 projects where no solution could be found out. Secretary, bankers and contractors sat today. Under no circumstances any project should be pending. Out of the box solution will be arrived at by the Finance Ministry and PMO if any issue remains unresolved today," Gadkari said.
"If meeting is going to solve the problems we don't need a committee but we will recommend to the Cabinet that a Committee is needed under the Finance Minister, which comprises Finance Secretary and Highways Secretary for out of the box decisions," he said adding problems pertaining to five or six projects have already been solved.
He said that in case a committee is formed it will take decisions regarding assistance to projects by NHAI since at present the NHAI can provide aid to only those projects where 50 per cent work is completed.
Seeking bankers and developers cooperation to translate "highways building into a success story", Gadkari said atmosphere is positive and the Ministry will launch a website for cooperation, coordination and communication where bankers and developers could post their problems, to be reviewed by Highways Secretary personally.
Gadkari said Finance Minister Jaitley's presence in the meeting has instilled confidence among the bankers and now the projects would be fast-tracked.
Earlier, running out of patience for stalemate over these 19 projects, the government already has warned non-serious developers and bankers of terminating these contracts.
A top official last month had said that the government was "reaching a stage of impatience" over the stalled projects.
"The concessionaires and bankers are not realising that we are reaching a stage of impatience, and people who are users of these roads are not going to be waiting any more," the then Road Transport and Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber had said.
"If developers and bankers fail to mend their ways and initiate correctives to roll out projects by January-end, the government will start terminating contracts in PPP mode and repackage them," he had said before his retirement.
The government recently "offered a full package", which among other steps extends the concession period of projects where delays are not attributable to developers.
He said the daily road construction average has reached 18 km a day from 2 km a day and the government was committed to achieve the target of 30 km a day by March.
"We are trying to build up a capacity to construct 100 km of roads a day. We want to build more than 10,000 km of roads in a year. This is difficult but not impossible. This is not a commitment but a target," Gadkari said.
He said the government has taken a number of steps to reduce cost of construction and improve its quality including building of concrete roads for which 95 lakh tonne cement has already been booked for three years.
Besides, construction standards will be upgraded to the standards of the UK and the US and a report by a committee was expected soon in this regard.
He said massive employment will be generated as the government has so far awarded projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore and as per a World Bank study 800 people get employment on award of projects worth Rs 1 crore.
Also, construction equipment makers have reported sales increase of 15 per cent in last two months which also is a positive indication, he said adding that road sector will contribute at least 2 per cent to India's GDP.