Building 20000 km roads per year achievable: Kamal Nath

Here is a verbatim transcript of the excerpts of Kamal Nath's interview on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: What target have you set yourself?

A: We have to make a visible difference. I looked at what makes a visible difference across the country. It was a minimum of 7,000 kilometres a year. Now, 7,000 translates into approximately 20 (kilometres per day) and we were doing about 2 (kilometres per day). And I said from 2 to 20 we are going to make this quantum jump.

Q: Is that an aggressive target that you had set out or do you really think you can achieve that?

A: I think we can achieve that. I not only think that, I believe we will achieve it. We must recognise that in July of this year, we have done 10 kilometres. We have reached that figure. This year, we will build more roads than what had been built in five years.

Q: What the citation said was that here was somebody who is finally vigorously engaging with the problems of the sector? So, it was almost a relief that here is somebody who is finally taking charge of this sector. It is an indictment of what happened in the last five years?

A: I want to really look ahead and see what we need to do.

Q: No lessons from the past--what happened in the five years?

A: Of course, there are always lessons from the past. There were lessons on land acquisitions where the process has been too slow.

Q: Also in the five years you had four different chiefs of NHAI?

A: Yes, we did have different chiefs of NHAI. But then there has to be an element of stability--that is important. In this huge programme, the biggest challenge is capacity building. When you want to 7,000 kilometres a year, we have got to be having 20,000 kilometres of work in progress. To manage 20,000 kilometres of work in progress is a phenomenal job. So, we have got to do capacity building first at home.

A: I think we were grappling with many issues in the past like what is going to be the right concession agreement. How much of it should be on PPP, or public-private partnership? How much should be on built-operate-transfer (BoT)? How much should be on engineering-procurement-construction (EPC)?

We must remember that initially when this highway project was undertaken it was all EPC. It was all on piece rate basis and now that's now the best way to do things. So having now been through that curve, we are now on track and we will achieve our targets.

Q: We have had the Chaturvedi Committee coming on the report. You said it could be implemented soon. Are we going to see it implemented soon or we hear that there is some disenchantment with that report in the Planning Commission?

A: Everybody has a view. Everybody is entitled to a view. We have got to look at what's possible. What is desirable is to have a road free but you cannot have it. So between what is desirable and what is feasible you have got to strike a balance.

Q: Do you think the committee strikes a balance?

A: The committee has resolved some of the issues, some remain unresolved, some have to be taken up in the part two section of it, which we'll do but the most immediate thing seems to have been resolved by the committee.

Q: Are you going to implement that?

A: We should be able to do this by the end of September.

Q: One of the criticisms, and I don't necessarily agree with that, is that perhaps it makes it too easy for people to win contracts and that could lead to, in the long-term, a deterioration in the quality of roads. Is there a worry there?