The National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) envisages six-laning of 6,500 kms, four laning of 24,700 kms and upgradaing of 20,000 kms of National Highways, besides development of 1,000 km of expressways. Under this programme, a length of about 15,000 km has already been completed and about 10,000 km is under construction. Over the next three years, it is proposed to take up new sections of about 25,000 km, through a combination of PPP (Public Private Partnership) and EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction).
NHDP is being implemented mainly through the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) which has been structuring and awarding PPP projects based on standard documents such as Model Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Model Request for Proposal (RFP) have also been adopted for enabling a transparent and fair selection process.
The National Highways (NH), with a total length of 70.934 km, serve as the arterial network of the country. Much of this network has suffered from prolonged neglect and requires significant augmentation through widening and up gradation. The Government has set an ambitious target of upgrading 20 km of National Highways per day. Forming part of the NHDP, this implies a length of 7,300 kms in a year.
To accelerate the pace of NHDP, the Union Government has entered into MOUs with some State Governments who will undertake PPP projects on behalf of the Union Government. A number of projects are in different stages of bidding and award. Based on competitive bidding, up to 40 per cent of the project cost is being provided as viability gap funding for National Highways Projects. A part of cess funds levied and collected by the Government on sale of motor fuels is being transferred to NHAI for meeting this expenditure. India infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. (IIFCL) is also providing financial assistance through long-tem debt of up to 20% of the capital costs of the projects.
During 2009-10 and 2010-11, project awards for National Highways aggregated 3,360 kms and 4,920 kms respectively. However, for achieving a construction rate of 20 km per day, it is necessary to award 7,300 kms per year. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has identified projects of about 10,000 km so as to ensure award of 7,300 km during 2011-12. Project – wise details have since been placed in the public domain.
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