Will the Minister of SHIPPING, ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS be pleased to state:-

(a)        whether Government’s attention has been drawn to the news item published in the Hindustan Times dated 19 May, 2008 to the effect that only 50 per cent of the highway construction targets for 2007-08 have been achieved by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI);

(b)        if so, the reasons therefor and the steps Government proposes to take to improve the performance of NHAI and time likely to be taken for the completion of projects in hand; and

(c)        the details of construction targets fixed for the year 2008-09?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SHIPPING, ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
(SHRI K.H. MUNIYAPPA)

(a) to (b): In the year 2007-08, as against the target of 2885 Kms for completion of construction across all phases of National Highways Development Project (NHDP), achievement was 1614 kms. Progress of work has been affected due to various reasons which include delays in land acquisition, shifting of utilities, obtaining of environmental clearances, and poor performance by some contractors etc. In order to expedite completion of projects, monitoring of projects has been stepped up by NHAI and measures initiated against the poor performing contractors in terms of the contractual provisions. The interaction with State Governments and concerned Ministries/Departments have also been intensified for early resolution of issues of land acquisition and various clearances etc. for the projects.
While 4-laning of Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) under NHDP Phase-I is almost 97.5% complete, the scheduled completion date for other phases of NHDP being implemented by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are as under:

NHDP Phase-II            -           December, 2009

NHDP Phase-III           -           December, 2013

NHDP Phase-V            -           December, 2012

NHDP Phase-VI          -           December, 2015

NHDP Phase-VII         -           December, 2014

(c)        For the year 2008-09, a target of 3519 kms has been fixed for NHAI for completion of construction across various phases of NHDP.