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As many as 725 road projects of the total 1,801 ongoing projects are running behind the schedule across the country as of February 2023 due to protracted monsoon in many states and above-average rainfall in some states, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday. The Road Transport and Highways Minister in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said additional cost is not incurred in all delayed projects as in Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects, as escalation cost is absorbed by the Concessionaire. For other projects, if the delay is attributable to the Project Authority, price escalation is paid as per contract conditions, which may or may not result in additional cost, depending upon the final value of price escalation determined on the actual completion of the project and final settlement of bills, he added. Replying to a separate question, Gadkari said the National Highways Authority of India has planted 344.27 lakh trees from 2016 to February 2023 under the green highways ..
The construction work of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway will be complete by the end of December this year, reducing the journey time between the two cities to two hours, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said. "Work on the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway project will be over by December end and from January 1 next year people will be travelling from Dehradun to Delhi in just two hours," Gadkari said during a visit to Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh on Sunday. A journey from Dehradun to Delhi at present takes around six hours. The union minister who visited the Ashram to take part in a Ganga Aarti along with family said the all-weather road project will make year-round Char Dham Yatra possible. "Char Dham Yatra goes on for six months at present. But, once the all-weather road project is complete, devotees can visit the Himalayan temples throughout the year," he said. Work on the ropeway project in Kedarnath whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendr
With the government betting big on infrastructure, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday increased allocation to state-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to Rs 1.62 lakh crore for 2023-24 from last year's revised allocation of Rs 1.42 lakh crore. The Union Budget 2023-24 has allocated an enhanced outlay of Rs 2.70 lakh crore for the highways sector. An allocation of Rs 1.99 lakh crore was made for the highways sector for 2022-23, which was revised to Rs 2.17 lakh crore. NHAI and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways in India.
To propagate the cause of safer roads for all, 'Road Safety Week' is being observed from 11-17
Senior bureaucrats Santosh Kumar Yadav was on Monday appointed as chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), according to a Personnel ministry order. Yadav, a 1995-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is currently additional secretary in the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education. He has been appointed as NHAI chairman, the order said. Subhasish Panda, a 1997-batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Delhi Development Authority (DDA) vice chairman. Ganji Kamala V Rao has been named Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Rao, a 1990-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, is currenty the managing director of the India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. Hitesh Kumar S Makwana has been named as Additional Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs. Rajneesh, a 1997-batch IAS officer of the Himachal
These would be for immediate execution and be overseen by MoRTH
Deal for Rs 6,267 cr is the largest road acquisition under government's asset monetisation programme this year
Next InvIT issuance will have higher reservation for retail investors, says MoRTH Secretary Upadhyaya
Enthused by the overwhelming retail investor response to the recent InvIT from NHAI, wherein NCDs worth Rs 1,430 crore were issued, Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said the retail portion will go up in new such fund-raising ahead. The minister was addressing a gathering at BSE after listing the second tranche of the NHAI Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and NCD, which earlier this month raised Rs 1,430 crore and the issue was oversubscribed nearly seven times. As much as 25 per cent of the issue was reserved for retail investors, but NHAI had not said how many times the retail portion was oversubscribed instead saying it had an overwhelming response. Infrastructure investment trusts are instruments on the pattern of mutual funds, designed to pool money from investors and invest in assets that will provide cash flows over a period of time. "We want more and more general public to invest in these InvITs, I mean in our roads, and I can assure you that NHAI's roa
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will hold officials liable for any fatal or serious accidents that occur as a result of poor road engineering works. NHAI in a circular said the authority has taken a serious view towards the dereliction of duty by the representative of NHAI/IE/AE involved in the process of issuance of the provisional certificate, thereby jeopardising the safety of users in utter disregard of the policy guidelines and provisions of the contract agreement. "However, it has come to notice that provisional completion certificates are being issued keeping safety works such as road marking, road signages, end treatment of crash barriers in the punch list, which not only compromise the safety of users but also bring a bad name to NHAI upon the occurrence of accidents/ fatalities," the circular said. The pending items are put under a category called a punch list. "It must be ensured that road safety works on the project highway are complete in all respects prior
Debt reduction, renewed govt focus on BOT projects, attractive valuations and strong revenue growth forecasts could lead to a re-rating of the stock
Talks underway with Sebi to make private-listed InvIT into public
The highway authority has ordered the immediate removal of key personnel involved in the project and their debarment for a period of one year
The five SPVs are engaged in operating and maintaining highways in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra
Last year, the InvIT saw investments from CPP Investments and Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund at an enterprise value of Rs 8011 crore
The Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) is planning to raise Rs 2,000 crore from investors to acquire two to three road assests from its parent firm
Authority plans to slash developer upfront payment, reduce timeline for financial closure
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of seven National Highway projects with a total length of 222 km in Gwalior worth Rs 1,128 crore
The minister recently announced that the NHAI InvIT will soon be open to retail investors, and will assure them a minimum return of 7-8 per cent.
The government is working on developing electric highways powered by solar energy, that will facilitate the charging of heavy duty trucks and buses, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Monday. Addressing an event organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), Gadkari reiterated that the government wants to develop India's public transport system on electricity. "The government is strongly encouraging solar and wind energy-based charging mechanisms for electric mobility. "We are also working on developing electric highways, which will be powered by solar energy and this will facilitate charging of heavy duty trucks and buses while running," he said. An electric highway generally refers to a road which supplies power to vehicles travelling on it, including through overhead power lines. Gadkari said that the government is also encouraging toll plazas to be powered by solar energy. The minister said the road ministry has conducted route ...