Question : Cost of Land Acquisition

(a) the cost of land acquisition on an average in terms of Rupees per hectare for construction of NHs during the last two years and the current year;

(b) whether the Ministry has sought borrowing limit for the National highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the year 2017-18 and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the pace of NHAI''s projects awarded during the April-October period of the current fiscal has slowed down as compared with projects awarded in the April-October period of the last fiscal and if so, the reasons therefor;

(d) whether there is paucity of funds for awarding projects and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government to speed up the construction work of highways to achieve the desired goal?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE
MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

(SHRI PON. RADHAKRISHNAN)

(a) The average cost of land acquisition for national highway projects borne by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the last two years and the current year upto October 2016 is as under:-
Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 (upto Ocober, 2016)
Average LA Cost (In crores per Ha.) 1.35 2.05 2.05 (tentative)

(b) to (e) No Madam. Budgetary allocation of Rs. 46027.01 cr. has been made this year for construction of National Highways.

In order to expedite land acquisition as required for projects of road and highway construction, expansion and upgradation, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has close co-ordination and liaison with the State Governments. Several steps have been taken to address issues that lead to delay in land acquisition, and various directions have been issued, which are as under : -

(i) Determination of the amount of compensation in consonance with the relevant provisions contained in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 with effect from 01.01.2015;

(ii) Providing the necessary technical and organizational support to the revenue authorities in the State Government;

(iii) Appointment of additional officers as Competent Authority for Land Acquisition and Arbitrator for expediting acquisition;

(iv) Procurement of land as per respective State Government policies and including the administrative charges and other charges payable by the land acquiring department as per the concerned State Government’s policy in the Land Acquisition estimates for National Highway (NH) Projects;

(v) Procurement of land through consent where missing plots are left out from the bulk acquisition and/or additional land is required due to alteration of alignment at implementation stage;

Further, periodical meetings are held in this Ministry with the State Government authorities to review the progress of land acquisition for NH projects.

Also, to speed up the construction work of National Highways, regular meetings are held with project developers, State Government and contractors and steps are taken to streamline the regulatory clearances, as also for dispute resolution. With a view to ameliorate the shortage of equity and improve liquidity of Concessionaires, Government has also taken the following policy decisions: one-time fund infusion to revive and physically complete languishing national highway projects under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, Rationalized Compensation to concessionaires, in case delays are not attributable to them, securitization of future cash flows, Deferment of Premium in stressed highway projects, Harmonious Substitution in financially stressed highway projects and 100% Equity Divestment after 2 years of construction of all highway projects under PPP mode.
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