Govt to invite bids for three mega road projects
BS Reporter / New Delhi August 29, 2009, 1:07 IST
We will invite bids for three mega projects by the end of this year, we are looking at mega projects in which each project for building 500 km of road will be worth $1 billion, Nath told at the Siam conference.
Nath said at the Indian Road Congress seminar that the total project cost (TPC) of several projects was half of the real cost and the consultants needed to post the fair TPC of highway projects.
We have found that in case of several projects, the TPC is almost half of the real cost. It has to be a realistic estimate and as close as possible to the real price, the minister said.
Nath also said the domestic contractors needed international financing and the government had taken initiative to create conducive environment for this. We have also started the work on setting up regional centres of the National Highways Authority of India and the delegation of power has to happen, Nath said.
We are going to put in place 11,000 km of roads worth Rs 1 lakh crore in 2009-10 under Work Plan I, Nath said, adding that challenges in capacity-building would be addressed and all corrections would be made by September 30.
He said Indias automobile industry should aim at producing 25 million vehicles by 2015 for, for which his ministry would build the necessary road network.
Earlier, he had said 20 km of roads would be built every day in the next two years, amounting to an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore.
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Rs 1 lakh crore road projects in 2009-10'
TNN 29 August 2009, 12:33am IST
NEW DELHI: In a move to attract global infrastructure majors to bid for highway projects, the government would invite bids for three mega
projects worth Rs 14,500 crore by this year end. Simultaneously, the road, transport and highways ministry is hopeful of coming out with solutions by September end to the hindrances in the speedy construction of highway projects.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the annual convention of Society for Indian Automobile Association (SIAM) on Friday, road, transport and highways minister Kamal Nath said, "We will invite bids for three projects by the end of this year. We are looking at mega projects in which each project for building 500 km of road will be worth $1 billion.''
He said, "We are going to put in place 11,000 km of roads worth Rs 1 lakh crore in 2009-10 under the Work Plan I.'' He said the country's automobile industry should aim at producing 250 lakh vehicles by 2015 and for that the ministry would build the necessary road network. "You manufacture vehicles, I will build the roads,'' he said.
Significantly, the minister has been inviting foreign investors claiming that the substantial rise in vehicular traffic on highways has made the projects viable.
Earlier in the day, addressing a conclave on highway projects organised by the Indian Road Congress, Nath said the domestic contractors need international financing and the government has taken the initiative to create a conducive environment for this. In this connection, he referred to his road shows for attracting foreign investment to the road sector.
While maintaining that his ministry has been taking all possible steps to remove the impediments to push road projects, Nath said that besides capacity building of the highway regulator there is also a need to upgrade the capacity of consultants, who prepare reports and project the estimates.
"We have found that in case of several projects, the total project cost (TPC) is almost half of the real cost. It has to be a realistic estimate and as close as possible to the real price,'' he said.
He also said that capacity building at all level was necessary to achieve the target of building 20 km of roads per day. "When the work is in progress for 20,000 km, we can meet the target of building 7,000 km of roads in a year,'' Nath said.