The Hindu Business Line : Pointers for smooth road laying

A World Bank study, India’s Road Construction Industry: Capacity Issues, Constraints and Recommendations, points out that while the quantum of road works has gone up significantly in the last decade, the industry has not kept pace with this growth, as is evident from under-utilisation of funds allocated to road projects and perennial time and cost overruns on national and State highway projects. About 40 per cent of contracts in India experience cost overruns to the extent of 25 to 50 per cent. The average time taken for making the site encumbrance-free is 30 months against the usually allocated 18 months. In 75 per cent of the cases, the delays are attributed to wrong survey data. The effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanism is also an area of concern with about Rs 9,000 crore estimated to be locked in various disputes and arbitration. Weak project and resource management have been mentioned as areas needing attention. The study makes several recommendations for implementation in the short-term (two years), medium term (two to five years) and long term (five to 10 years) covering a range of issues relating to institutional structures and regulation, project design, quality of human resources, access to finance and efficiency in procurement. The setting up of a Road Appellate Tribunal for faster resolution of disputes has been emphasised.

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