Land acquisition delays highway development in India

New Delhi, Jun 23: There has been a crucial barricade in the completion of road and highway projects across India due to the delay in land acquisition. The road transport and highways ministry is now planning to award all new projects only after 100% land acquisition.

But now, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has to acquire 80% of the land before any road project is awarded to private developers. But even the 80% benchmark has not helped in cutting down the delay.

Around 30% of the road/ highway projects under the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) are running behind schedule on account of tardy land acquisition process.

Union road transport minister CP Joshi said, “I have directed ministry officials to write to all state government to inform us about proposed road projects in their respective state for which 100% land can be acquired before awarding of tender. These projects would be given a priority."

Many states like Goa, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Haryana have fared badly in sorting out land acquisition issues. According to a government report, 105 out of the 122 road projects are running behind schedule and the delayed period stretched between 1 to 5 years.

OneIndia News