Road Ministry wants concrete cement to be used for govt-funded and PPP projects
The Road Transport and Highways Ministry apparently wants that concrete cement should be used in place of bitumen, in fully Government-funded projects and public-private partnership (PPP) road projects.
Towards that end, the Ministry is reportedly mulling the option of making the use of concrete cement obligatory as part of the bid for such projects.
The proposed preference for roads made of concrete cement – rather than bitumen – was clearly stated by Roads and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari at his recently-held first briefing to the media.
About the Ministry’s proposed use of concrete cement for fully Government-funded projects and PPP projects, an unidentified Government official said that the cost of concrete roads is comparatively less than that of bitumen roads on a life-cycle basis – that is, over a two-decade period. The official said that despite the fact that the initial expenditure on concrete roads is higher that on bitumen surfaces, their maintenance costs are much less.
Meanwhile, the source also revealed that the Ministry is also mulling the decision to enter into rate contracts with companies to procure concrete and cement, to help builders and contractors acquire the material at cheaper rates.
The source said: “For Government-funded contracts, we have already started evaluating cost options for various projects to use concrete cement where there is a lower life-cycle cost.”
Source – The Hindu Business Line
(PPP) road projects, Government-funded contracts, Highways ministry, PPP, PPP projects, Public-private partnership, road ministry, Road transport, Roads and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, ully Government-funded projects and PPP projects
