No funding plan yet for expressways
Meanwhile, the Planning panel is preparing the draft bill to set up the Expressway Authority. However, ministry officials declined comment on the progress of the bill.
The ministry of road transport and highways, which has announced mega plans to develop greenfield expressways spanning 18,600 km by 2022, is still groping in the dark on the funding model for projects.As per senior officials from road transport and highways ministry and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) nothing has moved forward, “Only preliminary network assessment has been done. No further development has taken place yet,” said a senior ministry official, on condition of anonymity.Meanwhile, the Planning panel is preparing the draft bill to set up the Expressway Authority. However, ministry officials declined comment on the progress of the bill. While announcing the scheme last year, surface transport minister, Kamal Nath, envisaged clubbing real estate along with the alignment of highways, to generate a revenue stream for projects.
But, NHAI officials feel this type of funding model will not work. “We need to appreciate the fact that the entire connectivity will be a greenfield one. So, in case of the new alignments, how is it possible for the cost to come upfront for real estate,” said an NHAI official. This delay will hamper the government’s plan to award 11 expressways by the end of the ongoing 11th Plan. The 11 projects are a part of the first phase of expressway spanning Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In the second phase, scheduled between 2013 and 2017, about 3,690 km will be added with the longest stretch being over 700 km. The third phase, between 2018 and 2022, will add another 6,031km. Depending on the need, the third phase may also see construction of an additional 5,275km of expressways on annuity model.