Rs 2.1 Lakh Crore Road Projects: Highways Ministry to Award 53 BOT Projects

New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) The highways ministry has identified 53 road projects worth Rs 2.1 lakh crore to be awarded on a build-operate-transfer model, an official statement said on Wednesday.

Out of the total 53 projects for a length of 5,200 km, bids for seven highways with a length of 387 km worth Rs 27,000 crore have been invited, it added.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will come out with a modified build-operate-transfer (BOT) project document in the next one month to attract private companies for investments in the highways sector, the statement said.

At present, projects are being awarded on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) or hybrid annuity (HAM) mode due to various challenges in the implementation of BOT projects.

BOT projects provide the risk of financing, building and operating highway projects with a concession period of 20-30 years.

The proposed changes include modifications in the concession period based on actual traffic (PCU) against tolling groups of vehicles, re-visiting of actual traffic exceeding design capacity, and compensation for delays on the part of the authority.

Even force-majeure cause will have clearly defined termination payments before project completion with a new provision of buyback in case of an additional tollway or competing road.

"NHAI is making efforts to fast-track clearances and make the entire system transparent and time-bound to make BOT projects attractive," road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said at a conference on BOT projects on Wednesday.

Gadkari asked concessionaires to improve the quality of road construction and reduce the cost of the projects viable.

"We want to give a renewed push to BOT projects and have urged banks to liberalise financing to the road infrastructure sector," Gadkari added.

Also, speaking at the event, NHAI chairman SK Yadav said the idea behind the modified BOT project document is to eliminate discrepancies and make BOT projects attractive.

As part of the government of India's 'Vision @2047' plan, a large number of high-speed corridors are envisaged to be developed.