(a) whether the Government has prepared any time bound road map for widening of Highways to 4 and 6 lanes;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government proposes to involve private sector in such projects by giving incentives to private players; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE
MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
(SHRI PON. RADHAKRISHNAN)
(a) and (b) The Ministry has taken up various phases of National Highways Development Project (NHDP). Phases I, II and III of NHDP are primarily concerned with four laning of National Highways (NHs). Further, selected NH stretches have been taken up for 4-laning under NHDP Phase-IV. The Ministry has taken up NHDP-Phase V for six laning of about 6,500 km length of NHs. The present status of progress under these programmes are as follows:-
NHDP Phase Total Length (km) Length Completed (km) Length under
Implementation (km) Length to be awarded (km)
I 7,522 7,521 1 0
II 6,647 5,954 438 255
III 12,172 7,006 3,388 1,778
IV* 6,102 984 4,488 630
V 6,500 2,434 726 3,340
Total 38,943 23,899 9,041 6,003
*- Length selected for upgradation to 4-lane NH standard
4-laning of about 580 km length of NHs are included under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North East Region (SARDP-NE) including Arunachal Pradesh Package of Roads. Projects in about 353 km length have commenced for 4-laning under these programmes; out of this projects in about 76 km length have been completed.
(c) and(d) The Government has taken major initiatives towards expediting implementation of languishing projects by providing incentives to private sector. The various measures taken are:-
• Loan secured to the extent of termination payment.
• Infrastructure debt fund – Long term financing at low interest rates
• Reschedulement of premium – Bank Rate+2%.
• 100% exit after 2 years of completion in projects awarded before 2009.
• Fund infusion by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in stalled projects where the physical progress is 50% and the concessionaire is facing shortage of funds.
• NHAI liberally permitting refinance with elongation of repayment period. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also issued circular for providing long term debt finance matching the concession period without classifying the exposure as restructured.
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