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Gadkari Unhappy With Progress Of Projects, Wants More Power For NHAI
Nitin Gadkari. Photo credit should read RAVEENDRAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, who was speaking at an event in New Delhi on Monday, said that he is unhappy with the overall performance of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the body needs more powers for faster execution of projects and realisation of set targets.
“We need to move on fast in NHAI. I am not happy with their targets,” Gadkari said stating that the state PWDs are performing better that the NHAI. He blamed a large number of decision-making committees for project delays.
According to Gadkari, a proposal to increase the powers of the NHAI to make crucial decisions on its own is pending with the cabinet and will soon be cleared.
As of now, the projects which involve amounts less than Rs 1,000 crore are cleared by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways before Cabinet approval. If the project amount is over Rs 1,000 crore, Finance Ministry’s approval is required before the cabinet’s approval. The requirement of approval at multiple levels causes delays.
The NHAI has set a target of constructing 40 km of highways a day but has only been able to construct 22 km on an average. The department has also raised its annual target to 15,000 km from 6,000 km last year. According to credit rating agency ICRA, the NHAI will likely miss this target by a ‘wide margin’.
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