210 NH projects delayed due to land acquisition issues, poor performance by developers: Govt

The government on Saturday said as many as 210 national highway projects are delayed due to various reasons such as poor performance by developers and problems in land acquisition besides regulatory hurdles. The minister added that there are some HAM projects which are yet to secure financial closure. Most of the such projects are in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu..

The government on Saturday said as many as 210 national highway projects are delayed due to various reasons such as poor performance by developers and problems in land acquisition besides regulatory hurdles. It also said there is some hybrid annuity model (HAM) projects which are yet to secure financial closure.

"210 nos. of National Highway projects are delayed under NHAI due to various reasons. The delays are due to multiple reasons, such as poor performance of Contractors/Concessionaires, delays in various activities and clearances such as utility shifting, environment/forest clearance, land acquisition, and law & order problems, etc," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways V K Singh told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. Since land is a state subject, several steps have been taken to coordinate with the States and solve the land acquisition issues for expediting the availability of land, he said.

The steps include the constitution of the High Powered Committee under the Chief Secretary to monitor the pre-construction activities, strengthening of Land Acquisition Units by way of providing manpower and resources, and effective formal public consultations at the time of project preparation to address the concerns of the public, he added. The minister added that there are some HAM projects which are yet to secure financial closure.

Most of the projects are in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.