Road projects see limited gains as most arbitration get challenged

More than 18 months after the Union Cabinet sought liquidity improvement in the infrastructure sector through the easing of arbitration awards, there has not been much progress because most of the arbitration awards are being challenged.

The Union Cabinet in August 2016 approved a mechanism in which government agencies would pay 75 per cent of the dues to clear cases that were stuck because of contractual issues, land acquisition-related matters, or other regulatory problems.

According to official data till January 31, 2018, 66 cases are in arbitration and Rs 14.82 billion has been sanctioned under the process, nine cases have been closed