Road Regulatory Authority proposal hit roadblock
Finance Ministry sought a major revision to the draft proposed by the Roads Ministry regarding the formation of a Road Regulatory Authority. The role of such a regulator is to sort out issues between private road developers, National Highways Authority of India and Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways, and ensure smooth functioning of road development works. The Finance Minister P Chidambaram had assured the setting up of the regulator within four months after announcing the proposal in the Budget speech. However, the plans seem to have been put on hold, at least for the time being. In his speech, he said that road construction sector has reached a certain level of maturity but it faces challenges not thought of earlier and such challenges are best addressed by an independent authority.
After the proposal was circulated for comments by the Ministry of roads, a lot of queries were raised by various departments. The Finance Ministry has asked if the regulatory body would be a quasi-judicial set up, with an advisory role. The Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways points out that setting up of the regulator will ease the litigation burden by helping resolve cases without having to go to court and will also help expedite road construction processes.
Source: The Pioneer
Budget, formation of a Road Regulatory Authority, Highways, Ministry of Finance, ministry of roads, NHAI, P Chidambaram, Regulator, Road Regulatory Authority
