No disagreement between NHAI & roads ministry: Chhibber

Despite several media reports doing the rounds, Vijay Chhibber, secretary for Ministry of Road Transport and Highways says there is no disagreement between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and its parent ministry.

CNBC-TV18 had learnt from sources that the two have been at loggerheads on the move to restructure stalled highway projects entailing premium revenue. The NHAI is against the government's move of selective project rescheduling. It wants one-time benefit of rescheduling premiums. Sources at NHAI say that the one-time settlement premiums are needed to revive the long struggling road sector.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Chhibber says, the ministry will examine any one-off proposals along with other suggestions. He says the concern is to bring the road sector back on track. "We expect to award 3,000 kilometer of projects in next three months," he says. NHAI had short-listed 22-23 projects for rescheduling premium and all of them have undergone evaluation by IMG, says Chhibber.
While the government remains keen to build more infrastructure through the public-private partnership (PPP) route, the NHAI has made a pitch for dumping PPPs and going back to the old engineering procurement and construction (EPC) method where NHAI engineers get the final say.
Chhibber reiterates that the government won't do away with PPP method of awarding projects completely.  "The private sector not doing government any favours by building roads," he says.
He says land is the main issue holding back awarding of road projects. "We have awarded 1,500 km of road projects versus target of 7,500 km," he says.
Meanwhile, a major player in the road sector, VD Mhaiskar, CMD, IRB Infra told CNBC-TV18 in an interview that his company has already committed to standing by the government.  "We have given no objection certificate (NOC) to the National Highway Builders Foundation (NHBF) that IRB will be applicable for proposal," he adds.