NHAI to complete bidding for 21 projects by Nov-end

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New Delhi, Oct 9: National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will complete the financial bidding for 21 projects worth around Rs 20,000 crore under National Highways Development Programme, Phase III, by the end of November. These projects are part of the 53 projects costing Rs 60,000 crore, which NHAI has put on block last month to expedite the process of awarding the projects.

Of the 53 projects, 44 are from NHDP, phase III and nine from phase V. The remaining projects under phase III and all projects under phase V are undergoing technical evaluation.

Incidentally, the bidding for these projects have been challenged in the Delhi high court over limitation in the number of projects a company can bid for and the cap on number of bidders for financial bidding.

In August this year, the ministry of road transport and highways imposed an additional condition that a company could not participate in the bidding for a particular project if the company, standalone or as a part of a consortium, during a period of two months preceding the bid due date, has been qualified in financial bidding for eight projects.

Also, a company cannot bid for a project even if it has been awarded four projects. However, this applies only to the 53 projects and all the future projects are exempt from the regulation.

A number of firms, which had been qualified for financial bidding, had to withdraw from the process owing to limitations in the number of projects a company could bid for. Stretches between Ghaziabad-Aligarh, Amritsar-Pathankot, Tirupati-Tiruthani-Chennai, Jaipur-Reengus, Panikoili-Rimuli, Muzaffarnagar-Haridwar-Dehradun and Rohtak-Hissar, which are a part of the 21 projects, which will be awarded soon, saw withdrawals by companies like L&T, GMR, Hindustan Construction, Isolux Soma, among others.

Also, the finance ministry’s recent decision to remove cap on the number of bidders for road projects barring these 53 projects is another issue plaguing the awarding of projects.