Tendering and awarding projects picked up only after the sanction of ambitious Bharatmala programme and subsequent new procedure for sanction being put in place in November 2017. Under the new protocol, the NHAI board was delegated full powers for sanctioning EPC projects. Following that high powered Projects Appraisal Committee and Cost Committee were put in place in NHAI.
During this drive, post Bharatmala, 232 projects were put on tenders involving around 11,200 km of road length costing more than Rs. 1,96,000 crore. To expedite land acquisition, a number of retired officers were employed and strong monitoring mechanisms were put in place. But for delay in land acquisition in some states, the award figures could have been still higher. It is expected that projects of around 3,000 km shall be awarded in the first two months of the next FY 2018-19.
Out of the total projects awarded, 3,791 km length was awarded on EPC mode at a cost of Rs. 43,000 crore; 3,396 km was awarded on Hybrid Annuity mode at a cost of Rs. 76,500 crore and 209 km on Toll mode at a cost of Rs. 2,500 crore.
The projects awarded include 1,234 km in Rajasthan; 739 km in Maharashtra; 747 km in Odisha; 725 km in Uttar Pradesh; 511 km in Tamilnadu; 504 km in Andhra Pradesh; 468 km in Karnataka 449 km in Gujarat; 389 km in Madhya Pradesh; 331 km in Haryana; 232 km in Bihar; 201 km in Jharkhand; 189 km in Telangana; 126 km in West Bengal; 120 km in Punjab; 100 km in J&K; and balance in other states.
With the above jump in work awards, NHAI has given a good beginning for ambitious Bharatmala Pariyojana approved by the Government in Oct., 2017, which is to be implemented with a very stiff target of 5 years (2017-18 to 2021-22).
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