Highway builders demand clearances before inviting bids
New Delhi- The highway builder’s apex body, NHBF has written to the Prime Minister seeking to direct NHAI to invite bids only after land acquisition and other clearances are put in place.
The letter stated that the sector is going through a difficult phase with a large number of projects yet to achieve financial closure. While the projects which have attained the status are unable to get the starting date owing to the delays in environment/forest clearances and land acquisition problems.
The letter further stated that the bids related to BOT projects should be invited only if maximum number of clearances including the land acquisition process in place. They also demanded that at least a stretch of contiguous 25-35 km should be in NHAIs possession prior to the invitation of the bids.
However, the development arises at a time when the highway builders and the NHAI have locked horns over problems like project delays and clearances. The NHAI has large number of developers like GMRBSE and Larsen and Toubro, etc.
Further, the NHBF wrote in the letter that the time period stipulated for achieving the financial closure by the developers should be according to the total project cost of the contract.
Likewise, the projects with an exceeding TPC of Rs. 2,000 should be given 270 days rather than 180 days which is the current applicable rate for all the projects. It further stated that the environment and forest clearances should be obtained by NHAI prior to the issue of request for proposals (RFP) apart from the mandatory pacts with states.
The NHBF which described its woes while meeting equity requirements also questioned if the concessionaire would be permitted for exiting the project after the commercial operation dates are achieved so that he will be free from his obligations pertaining the undertaking of new projects.
The letter also stated that bidders bidding unworkable prices by offering high premium to NHAI is a common fact. This in turn results hampers the financial closure achievement or making it difficult to continue with the project. Henceforth, the NHAI should work out for a policy which can ignore the bids of those bidders offering unworkable prices.
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and acquisition problems, clearances, environment/forest clearances, highway builder's apex body, land acquisition, New Delhi, NHAI, NHBF, request for proposals (RFP)
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