NHAI explores ways to enhance the enforcement of global standards

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi instructed officials from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to address quality shortcomings in national highways, the ministry and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are exploring ways to enhance the enforcement of standards, officials said.

 

“There isn’t any issue with the standards of highway projects. Our standards are on a par with global standards — the primary issue is the enforcement of regulations, and there have been ongoing deliberations in that regard,” a senior official said.

 

On Wednesday, Modi conducted a review of the road transport sector as part of an ongoing sectoral review exercise, during which the issue of rising complaints over the quality of even expensive flagship projects, among others, was discussed.

 

This came after projects inaugurated by Modi saw quality defects, such as stretches of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, prompting criticism on social media.

 

“We’ve told developers that these are not just problems in the maintenance stage but are issues from the construction stage itself, which will not be tolerated,” another official said.

 

The ministry has been seeking to deter developers from substandard construction practices by introducing reforms, such as doubling the defect liability period for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts to 10 years.

 

In 2023, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari also said that he’s considering making project engineers and contractors criminally liable for accident deaths caused on national highways due to structural defects.

 

Queries sent to MoRTH and NHAI remained unanswered until the time of going to press.

 

“The minister (Gadkari) has indicated that his focus is now on the maintenance and upkeep of highways. This is a slight shift from the previous goal of achieving record numbers in construction,” the official said.

 

Recently, newly appointed Union Highways Secretary V Umashankar also told developers at an industry meeting that there would be no compromise on stringent defect liability measures for contractors, as it isn't simply a defect liability but a “people’s liability”.

 

After the pandemic lockdown was announced, the ministry attempted to address liquidity concerns in the infrastructure sector by relaxing financial provisions, which allowed several players without stakes in the game to enter national highway contracts.

 

In 2022, the number of qualified bidders remained around 40 for some of the EPC projects. The increased competition resulted in discounted bids of as much as 30-35 per cent from NHAI’s estimated costs for EPC projects.

 

With the recently launched rating system for highway concessionaires in place, the ministry will look to ensure that only high-ranking players thrive in national highway projects.