Newly-formed highway committee to hold its first meeting on Sept 13
The newly-constituted highway committee under Roads Secretary Vijay Chibber will hold its first meeting on September 13. The committee comprises representatives from the Planning Commission and the Finance Ministry.
Set up in accordance with the directions of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the new committee has been formed to give the Roads Ministry the power to make any requisite changes in the model concession agreement (MCA) from time to time, so as to reduce project delays.
At its first meeting scheduled for September 13, the main agenda of the newly-formed highway committee will be to carry out a review of norms on exit and substitution, as well as change of mode from Build-operate-transfer (BoT) to Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). In addition, the committee will, among other things, also discuss the dispute resolution mechanism in the MCA.
Since the newly-formed committee can alter MCA agreements, without referring the matter to CCEA, it is possible that the committee may come up with a new MCA which will incorporate provisions for accommodating Road Minister Nitin Gadkari’s viewpoint with regard to stopping toll collection after project costs have been recovered.
In reference to the MCA-related powers of the newly-formed committee, Deloitte India’s Senior Director Vishwas Udgirkar said: “Currently, the MCA norms do not provide the flexibility for changes or additions. In the absence of such provisions, the government had to come up with a policy for rescheduling premium as well as an exit policy for developers.”
Source – The Financial Express
Build-Operate-Transfer, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA, Engineering Procurement and Construction, Finance ministry, highway committee, MCA norms, model concession agreement (MCA), Planning Commission, Roads Ministry, toll collection
