Despite the pandemic and resultant periods of lock-down, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) ended FY21 with all-time higher highway building and capital expenditure. Awards of new projects in the year was also at a 3-year higher. The authority is but to repair the targets for the existing fiscal, but these are anticipated to be ambitious as well. NHAI chairman Sukhbir Singh Sandhu discusses the road map for the existing year and ahead with Surya Sarathi Ray. Excerpts:
How has the economic year 2020-21 been for NHAI in terms of award of new highway projects, building and capital outlay?
NHAI has awarded 141 projects with combined length of 4,788 km in 2020-21, the highest in the final 3 years, compared with 3,211 km in 2019-20 and 2,222 km in 2018-19. Of the total projects awarded, two had been below create-operate-transfer (Toll) model for a highway length of 132 km, 69 projects (2,609 km) had been via the hybrid annuity model (HAM) and the balance 70 projects (2,047 km) had been via the engineering, procurement and building (EPC) model.
The capital expense of the projects awarded in 2020-21 amounted to Rs 1,71,226 crore, the highest ever, compared with Rs 81,324 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 64,009 crore in 2018-19.
Despite the truth that building came to a halt in April due to the lock-down, NHAI set a new record by developing 4,192 km of national highways in 2020-21. This was about 5% greater than the building in 2019-20 and 24% more than the level accomplished in 2018-19.
If counted by lane kilometre, NHAI has constructed 18,500 lane km (50 lane km/day) through 2020-21, 40% more than in 2019-20 and 91% more in 2018-19.
Capital expenditure by NHAI for improvement of highway infrastructure reached an all-time higher of `1,28,000 crore through 2020-21, 23% greater compared to such spending in 2019-20.
What are the measures taken to make sure the high-quality of building?
NHAI is committed to adhere to the highest high-quality requirements through building of projects. Recently, we have introduced independent inspection of the ongoing national highways projects, by involving reputed retired government officials. As lots of as 111 of such projects have been identified so far. These inspections will be held in addition to the typical inspection of the projects by NHAI officials. The high-quality inspections will not only make sure adherence to requirements but will also confirm compliance to particular contractual specifications and superior engineering practices with reference to procedures formulated as per authorized high-quality assurance program.
Electronic toll collection via FASTag has been produced mandatory from February 15. Has this helped to increase toll income?
The FASTag drive has been pretty effectively supported by the highway customers as it has accomplished more than 95% penetration with more than 3 crore customers in the nation. Many of the toll plazas have even reached about 99% penetration. Toll collection via FASTag has observed a constant development, crossing Rs one hundred crore per day mark.
FASTag implementation has also lowered the wait time at NH charge plazas drastically, resulting in enhanced user expertise. A current instance of this is Kherki Daula toll plaza close to Gurugram, exactly where the wait time has been lowered from 20-30 minutes to much less than 5 minutes. FASTag will also assist save Rs 20,000 crore per year on fuel and thereby foreign exchange, in addition to assisting the atmosphere.
The specific goal automobile for Delhi-Mumbai Expressway has lately raised close to `10,000 crore. Tell us about the financing program for the mega project?
The SPV has raised `9,731 crore through the initially economic year of its existence. The important share of the funding came from State Bank of India, which contributed Rs 5,000 crore. Punjab National Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Axis Bank are the other investors in the SPV.
The SPV will quickly tie up with other institutions for the balance debt requirement of Rs 38,733 crore. The expressway is scheduled for completion by March 2023, with one of the stretches to JNPT acquiring completed by September 2023.
Asset monetisaton is observed as a way to curb NHAI’s increasing dent budren. What has been the progress on this front?
NHAI has generated more than Rs 17,000 crore via the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model so far and has created a pipeline of projects worth Rs 75,000 crore to be awarded on TOT mode. In the current fifth bundle of TOT auctions, NHAI has got bids amounting to Rs 600 crore greater than the reserve cost.
NHAI has also added infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) towards the variety of offerings. An investment manager business of NHAI InvIT ‘National Highways Infra Investment Managers Private limited’ (NHIIMPL) has been formed. To handle the InvIT in a extremely qualified way, most effective talents have been engaged. We program to raise Rs 5,one hundred crore by monetising 5 operational toll roads via InvIT, which is most likely to hit the marketplace in a month or so.
How is the progress on the conciliation front?
For quicker settlement of claims via conciliation and decrease liabilities, NHAI has rigourously began the procedure of conciliation by constituting 3 Conciliation Committees of Independent Experts (CCIE) of 3 members each and every. We are asking all contractors and concessionaires to come for conciliation for quicker settlement of the claims.
NHAI began this initiative in 2017-18 and considering the fact that then 154 situations have been referred to CCIE. Till date, 95 situations of claims by contractors worth Rs 30,377 crore have been effectively settled for an quantity of Rs 8,991 crore. Out of this, in the final fiscal alone, 60 situations for Rs 5,312 crore against claimed quantity of Rs 14,206 crore have been settled.