A little more into the problem area.........

“…IT IS NOT WEALTH THAT BUILT THE ROADS BUT, ROADS THAT BUILT OUR WEALTH” -John F. Kennedy

                                            

Now lets look at the funding of NHDP

To really get into the problem with the current scenario, I have studied various journals ..... and this is an excerpt from the 12 th five year old plan by the planning commission ( NITI Aayog)...

ROADS

In recent years special efforts have been made by the central government to strengthen the National Highway and also to improve rural road connectivity. Despite this, the road network remains grossly inadequate in various respects. It is unable to handle high traffic density and high speeds at many places and has poor riding quality. It is necessary to accelerate completion of ongoing projects, including expressways besides speedy implementation of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and the North-South and East-West (NS-EW) corridors and also to address the deterioration of large stretches of the NHs.

REVIEW OF THE ELEVENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN

 Against an outlay of `1,92,428 crore in the Eleventh Plan for the road sector, the anticipated expenditure was `1,58,077 crore (at current prices). The scheme-wise and year-wise outlay and expenditure are given in Annexure 15.1.

National Highways (NHs) 15.76. At present, out of 76,818 kms of National Highways about 23 per cent length is of 4-lane (and above standard), 54 per cent length is of 2-lane standard and 23 per cent length is of single and intermediate standard. As on March 2012, 30,537 km length of NHs was entrusted to NHAI, 42,483 km to State PWDs and 3,798 km to BRO. Plan-wise details of increase in the NHs network are enclosed 

(Annexure 15.2). An overview of the physical targets and achievements of normal NH works, Border Roads Development Board (BRDB) works, and works by the NHAI during the Eleventh Plan period is enclosed (Annexure 15.3)

15.77. Despite the progress in NHs, only 23 per cent of their total length is wider than two lanes, leading to heavy congestion. Shortfall in construction of bypasses, inadequate capacity, insufficient pavement thickness, and weak, narrow, and distressed bridges/ culverts as well as ROBs are some of the other deficiencies.

National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) 15.78. India’s road network has benefited greatly from the NHDP programme which envisages an investment of about `2,36,247 crore during the period 2005–12. Although NHDP envisaged award of concessions/contracts by the year 2012, the actual completion of the programme was expected to be accomplished only by the end of the Twelfth Plan.

 Development and maintenance of National Highways is financed through various sources. Details are given in here

Physical Achievements under NHDP during the Eleventh Five Year Plan

  NHDP        Total length completed (km)

 Phase I                                               639

                                             Phase 2                                            5,210                                              Phase III                                           3,599 

                   Phase V                                              913                  

 Phase VII                                              13 

Other Projects                                      235 

                                                      Total 10,609 

Financing of National Highway Development Programme (NHDP)

 • Gross Budgetary Support (GBS- The GBS includes the tax receipts and other sources of revenue raised by the Government.) and Additional Budgetary Support (ABS- ).

                    • Dedicated accruals under the Central Road Fund. Present rate of cess is `2.00 per litre                          on both petrol and diesel. A part of this cess is allocated to NHAI to fund the NHDP

• External Assistance through World Bank, ADB, JBIC, and so on. 

                     • Ploughing back of toll revenue including toll collection, negative grant, premium and                          revenue share deposited by NHAI into Consolidated Fund of India and equivalent amount to be released to NHAI for ploughing back in its projects.

                 • Private Sector Investment under Public Private Partnership(PPP) frameworks that is                                 BOT-(Toll) BOT(Annuity), Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)- with Equity participation by NHAI.

              • Market Borrowings by NHAI as authorised by GOI to bridge the gap between the available resources and funds requirement.

Roads Under SARDP-NE 

 To promote the development of road network in the North-East, a Special Accelerated Programme for Road Development in North-East (SARDP-NE) was taken up in two phases. Under Phase ‘A’ of SARDP-NE approved by the Government, improvement of about 4,099 km length of roads (2,041 km NHs and 2,058 km State roads) is envisaged. The SARDP-NE Phase-A was targeted for completion by March 2014. However, it is expected to be completed by March, 2015. Under Phase ‘B’ of SARDP-NE Programme, covering 3,723 km (1,285 km NH and 2,438 km State road), have been approved for DPR preparation. So far DPRs of about 450 km has been completed. About 892 km (21.8 per cent) length has 

been completed under SARDP-NE Phase-A till end March 2012.

 Part of SARDP-NE is the Arunachal Pradesh Package for Road and Highways involving development of about 2,319 km length of road (1,472 km is NHs and 847 km is State/General Staff/Strategic roads) has also been approved by the Government. Projects for 776 km are to be taken up on BOT (Annuity) mode and the balance 1,543 km is to be developed on EPC basis. The entire Arunachal Pradesh Package is targeted for completion by June 2016. Out of the BOT (Annuity) Projects, 3 Projects have been awarded for 369 km costing `3,126 crore; balance 407 km costing `1,985 crore is in the process of award. In case of EPC Projects, out of the sanctioned 359 km, 143 km is under process for sanction andDPRs are under preparation for balance 928 km. Target for award of all civil works is March, 2012. So far during 2011–12, 10 km of road has been completed.

 

Roads for LWE Districts 

A programme for development of about 1,202 km of National Highways and 4,362 km of State Roads in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas as a special project costing about `7,300 crore has been taken up. The programme is slated for completion by March, 2015. The projects cover 34 districts in eight States, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. So far, 178 number of works containing a road length of 4,967 km costing `6,637 crore have been sanctioned. Out of these, 157 number of works containing a road length of 4,181 km estimated to cost `5,270 crore have been awarded and remaining are at various stages.

Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) Contract

 The conventional item-rate contracts are generally prone to time and cost overruns, particularly in the National Highway sector, resulting in enhanced cost to the exchequer, as also considerable delays in the completion of projects. Developed countries have moved to Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts where the contractor is responsible for design and construction on a turnkey basis and for a fixed price. The Planning Commission has published a model Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for Highways. It is expected that about 20,000 km of 2 lane National Highways would be developed under this model. A similar document is also being prepared for Dedicated Freight Corridor of the Indian Railways.

Road Maintenance 

. The road network built at a huge cost needs to be maintained properly to prevent disintegration and deterioration, ensuring its continuous utilisation in an optimum manner and road safety of its users. However, maintenance of roads, is treated as a non-Plan activity and has, therefore, tended to be neglected because of financial resources constraints. The maintenance requirement of the high density corridors of NHs under construction and post-implementation is provided by the NHAI. However, the non-NHDP NH sections, which are maintained by State PWDs, are poorly managed, primarily because funds made available to them for maintenance are well short of the requirement as per norms. According to an estimate, the NHs get only 50 per cent of the total funds required for 

proper maintenance of NHs. Maintenance of SHs and MDRs has also been suffering from paucity of resources made available for the purpose. For rural roads under PMGSY, there is provision for maintenance for five years following the completion of a project but the long-term issue of maintenance beyond the initial five year period has not been addressed so far. Besides inadequacy of resources, management of roads is unsystematic and inspections are irregular. There is weak accountability and poor monitoring of the maintenance activities.

Public–Private Partnership (PPP) Projects 

 During the Eleventh Plan, total private-sector investment on NHDP has been `62,629 crore against a target of `86,792.00 crore, which is a substantial jump over the achievement in the Tenth Plan of `11,032 crore (2011–12 prices) Appropriate policy and regulatory framework for the PPPs, including institutional mechanisms are put in place such as the Model Concession Agreement (MCA) for BOT projects.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) 15.89. Empowering rural India through the strategic provision of all-season road access has emerged as one of the key priorities for the Government of India. The Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007–12), and the Tenth Plan before it, recognised that rural connectivity is a key component of rural development and poverty alleviation in India. The main mechanism for enhancing rural connectivity in a more systematic way has been the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), launched on the 25 December 2000. The programme seeks to connect all habitations with a population of 500 persons and above in plain areas 

and 250 persons and above in Hill States, Tribal (Schedule V) areas, the Desert Areas (as identified in Desert Development Programme) and in the 82 Selected and Tribal Backward districts (under IAP) as identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs/ Planning Commission. The Government of India has also identified ‘rural roads’ as one of the six components of ‘Bharat Nirman’ with a goal to provide connectivity to all habitations with a population of 1,000 persons and above in plain areas and 500 persons and above in hilly or tribal areas with an allweather road.

15.90. The physical and financial progress of PMGSY upto the end of Eleventh Plan is presented in Tables 15.23 and 15.24. Although the PMGSY has achieved only 53 percent of its initial targets— mainly due to limited implementation capacity—its achievements have been significant. The length of the new and improved rural road network under the program to date has reached 2,09,500 km and as a result 84,414 habitations have been connected. The main strength of the PMGSY programme has been its ability to develop a strong national focus for rural roads development through the National Rural Roads Development Agency (NRRDA). The NRRDA has developed a common set of operating procedures that are applied nationwide through the dedicated State Rural Roads Development Agencies (SRRDAs) and their Program Implementation Units (PIUs). These operating procedures are set out in a series of PMGSY manuals covering overall operations, technical design, quality control and accounting. There is a systematic planning process in place which has included the prioritisation of a 1.5 million km core rural road network, of which about 750,000 km are eligible for new connectivity and upgrading under the PMGSY programme. The programme has also developed a web-based On-line Monitoring Management and Accounting System (OMMAS) which is accessible to the public.

Bharat Nirman 

. Under Rural Connectivity component of Bharat Nirman, all habitations having population of 1,000 or more persons (500 or more in hilly and tribal areas) are to be provided connectivity with all-weather roads. 

Accordingly, the programme 

envisages to provide connectivity to 63,940 habitations under above category.

 Projects to connect 58,387 habitations have been sanctioned and 44,089 habitations connected by constructing 1,41,095 km of new roads up to 31 March 2012. Also 1,03,471 km of roads were upgraded (excluding renewals by States)

The Twelfth Plan  

The Twelfth Plan will have to continue the thrust of upgrading the road infrastructure, with the objective of improving mobility and accessibility while reducing the cost of transportation. The main targets of the Twelfth Plan will be as follows:

1. Completion of on-going works on Golden Quadrilateral and North–South and East–West corridors taken up in NHDP Phases I and II of the programme. The balance works remaining are marginal and will get completed in the first two years of the Plan.

 2. In respect of the remaining phases of NHDP, namely NHDP-III for inter-district roads and other roads taken up under the programme and NHDP-IV which aims to convert single-lane roads to double-lane roads, the programmes will be taken up for completion in the Twelfth Plan.

 3. Similarly, NHDP-V which involves conversion of the GQ to six-lane roads now will be 

continued in the Twelfth Plan and specific targets set for completion.

 4. National and State Highways would be upgraded to minimum two lane standard by the end of the Plan.

 5. All villages will be connected with all-weather roads by the end of the Plan.

 6. Work on access controlled expressways has moved at a slow pace. A comprehensive master plan for development of 15,600 km of expressways would be developed, the alignment determined and work taken up in phases. It is hoped that 1,000 km of expressways would be completed during the Twelfth Plan, while land for another 6,000 km would be acquired to initiate work. 

7. The Plan will aim to prioritise special links for feeder roads to important railway routes and ports which are essential for development of domestic and international trade. The overall effort will be to integrate with the road development programme with the other modes of transport so as to have an integrated transport movement. Such links which connect important minor and major ports and developed with minimum two/ four-lane National Highways or State Highways. Important areas of focus will be development of way-side amenities and improving capacities of implementing agencies, including State Public Works Departments. While undertaking construction of roads, modern technologies which can help in improvement of energy conservation and environmental protection will be taken up. The National Highways had added 10,000 km in the Eleventh Plan. Another 10,000 kms will be added during the Twelfth Plan so that the total length of the highways becomes 91,200 km. This will require additional resources for maintenance and improving riding quality. These will be adequately funded.

Introduction of Electronic Toll Collection (ETC)

 • A Committee was set up under the Chairmanship of Shri Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India. • Recommendations of the Committee have been accepted and notified by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for the use of National Highways.

 • In the first phase, a pilot project on ETC was inaugurated on 19 April 2012 on a section of NH-5 between Delhi and Parwanoo. Three Toll Plazas with ETC have been operationalised by the concessionaires at Panipat, DeraBassi and Parwanoo.

 • A second pilot project on the Mumbai and Ahmedabad section of the National Highways has also been initiated. Progress on the project is being monitored continuously for early completion of the same.

 • The other stretches of the NHs on which pilot projects have been undertaken are – Bengaluru–Chennai (State Bank of India); Kolkata–Dhanbad (IDFC Infra) and Gurgaon–Jaipur–Beawar (Feedback Infra Ltd.).

 • The work of implementation of ETC on all stretches of the NHs in the country has been entrusted to NHAI. All the toll plazas across the country are proposed to be completed by January 2014.

Some Major Initiatives in the Twelfth Plan 

. Some major initiatives during the Twelfth Plan Period are:

• Investment in R&D, technology and design of better and safer roads. 

• Reforms in Motor Vehicles Act to simplify interState movement with simplified procedures. • Integration of tax administration with interstate road freight and passenger movement through online communication network system at National, Regional and Local level.

• Reforms in tax administration (road tax, goods tax, passenger tax) to reduce collection cost and compliance cost of vehicle owners/operators.

 • Creation of truck terminals to ease traffic congestion, decrease pollution, facilitate emergence of hub spoke system for distribution of goods and improvement in turnaround time of goods carriages.

 • Creation of National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board to promote and sustain improved road safety in India, reflect international good practice and provide an informed basis for effective action.

Outlay for the Twelfth Plan 

 The Twelfth Plan budgetary support for Central Sector Roads is `1,44,769 crore. In addition, the sector is expected to generate IEBR amounting to `64,834 crore and private-sector investment of `2,14,186 crore during this period.

Objectives of this post

My main aim of this post was to make all the readers understand the present scenario.. as to the comparison of what we citizens feel about the roads and what does the government plan. Though the timeline is not really the latest one the information is good enough for understanding purposes.