NEW DELHI: KPMG conducted a week long, 24X7 traffic study in July at the Gurgaon toll expressway and has projected on the basis of the sample survey that due to under-reporting of at least 79,000 passenger car units (PCUs) daily by the operator NHAI lost about Rs 24 crore in 10 months. Significantly, tolling was suspended for over a month during this period due to a Punjab and Haryana High Court order.The survey was commissioned by the authority’s vigilance wing after CVC asked for it. Under-reporting of traffic at the toll plaza impacts NHAI’s revenue share. As per the contract norms, revenue from vehicles beyond 1.3 lakh PCUs in a day is shared equally between NHAI and the operator, DGSCL.Though the survey was conducted at all the three toll plazas on the expressway, the authority has first taken up the 32-lane plaza where revenue share is happening. Details emerging from the study show that on July 23, the difference in traffic as reported by DGSCL and that measured by KPMG was 1.57 lakh PCUs. In fact, on that day, DGSCL’s figure was barely half the number given by KPMG.Authority officials said that the average daily traffic during the little over 10 months when tolling happened works out to around 2.55 lakh PCUs while the company kept showing only 1.81 lakh PCUs. The number of vehicles was first manually counted at each toll gate indicating the category of vehicle. NHAI officials said that videography was also done to verify the details. “We will also submit the report in the court to prove our point,” an NHAI official said. A DGSCL spokesperson said, “We have not yet got the report and can only respond once we are able to go through it. The matter is currently being heard by Delhi High Court.”
NHAI officials said the authority lost revenue because of under-reporting of traffic and hence the detection of the major leakage was enough to strengthen its argument that there had been a substantial revenue loss. “This is due to developer’s default in managing the toll plaza. The notice has been sent in continuation of our show cause letter for termination issued on March 8,” an NHAI official said.
In the letter, NHAI had mentioned that since DGSCL did not give details of exempted vehicles, the authority had suspected that the company was diverting toll revenue instead of depositing it in the escrow account and not reporting actual revenues thereby causing loss to public exchequer.
(The road transport and highways ministry has directed the NHAI to sort out the buy-back of the contentious Delhi-Gurgaon expressway project.)
NEW DELHI: In a sharp rebuke to the highways authority, the road transport and highways ministry has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to sort out the buy-back of the contentious Delhi-Gurgaon expresswayproject through the legal process on its own instead of involving the government in a contractual dispute.”It is now for the NHAI to pursue the matter through the legal process as buying back the concession is the first step before other options can be examined,” said a letter sent by the ministry on Thursday to NHAI chairman RP Singh.
The ministry sent the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by ET, after the authority recently wrote to the government asking it to buy back the concession instead of getting into litigation.
Suspecting criminal liability on part of the concessionaire, the ministry has also requested the Central Vigilance Committee to investigate and refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation if a criminal case is made. “There is no point in referring the matter to the government as it is essentially a contractual dispute which is to be resolved and pursued to its logical end by the NHAI,” the letter said.
The NHAI had on Wednesday stated that the case, which is in Delhi High Court, was being prolonged on “one pretext or the other” while the lenders and the concessionaire, DGSCL, were raising extraneous issues and diverting the main issue. It also called upon the Haryana government for “finding fault with NHAI” instead of taking over by paying Rs 335 crore termination payment under political force majeure (unforeseeable circumstances).
But the ministry believes this would be more expensive than if they took over the project at a cost of Rs 130 crore. “It is patently clear that the government of Haryana is not pursuing its earlier intention of buying out this project. The only logical option therefore before the NHAI is to buy-back the concession as provided for in the agreement, at the earliest,” the ministry said in the letter.
The 28-km Delhi-Gurgaon expressway project has been embroiled in controversy over various issues including substandard service provided to commuters. The NHAI served the concessionaire with a termination notice, which was challenged in the Delhi High Court. The ministry has sought the assistance of the Attorney General to represent the NHAI in the court.
“The lenders, led by IDFC, extended Rs 1,600 crore to the concessionaire although this was not approved by NHAI. The concessionaire is not sharing details of the escrow account from where they have withdrawn Rs 676 crore by way of an inter-corporate deposit. We have asked the Enforcement Directorate to inquire if this contravenes any law of the land,” said a ministry official.
(The government today approved two highways projects in Maharashtra, including JNPT Port road )
NEW DELHI: The government today approved two highways projects in Maharashtra, including JNPT Port road project under its flagship road building programme NHDP, entailing a total expenditure of Rs 3,001.19 crore.
The projects for widening of four laning of Solapur- Yedeshi section of NH 211 and 6/8 laning of JNPT Port road project of Mumbai JNPT Port Road Company were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
“The CCEA has given its approval for four laning of the Solapur-Yedeshi section of National Highway-211 under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase IV on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT-Annuity) in Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) pattern,” an official statement said.
The cost of the 99 km project is estimated to be Rs 1,057.82 crore including the cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities.
The project will expedite improvement of infrastructure in the state and also reduce the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Solapur and Yedeshi.
Development of this stretch will also help in uplifting the socio-economic condition of this region and increase employment potential for local labourers for project activities, it said.
About the Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) Port Road Project of the Mumbai JNPT Port Road Company (MJPRCL), the statement said it will be build on BOT-Annuity mode in Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) pattern.
“The cost is estimated to be Rs 1943.37 crore including the cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities,” it said.
The total length of the road will be approximately 43.912 kms of which 20.95 km will be of 6-laning and 22.962 kms will be of 8-laning, it added.
The project will expedite improvement of infrastructure in the state and also reduce the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, going towards JNPT.
The project corridor highway consists of NH-4B and NH-348. This network connects the JNPT, including its proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport in Maharashtra.
Development of this stretch will also help in uplifting the socio-economic condition of this region of Maharashtra, the statement said, adding, it will also increase employment potential for local labourers for project activities.
BERHAMPUR: The proposed 45-km peripheral ring road around the Silk City may be a reality soon. Survey for the long-awaited project started on Monday. The survey to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) was stalled due to enforcement of model code of conduct for urban polls.A Bhubaneswar-based consultant would prepare the DPR after completing the survey while public works department (PWD) would execute the project, said executive engineer, PWD (Berhampur), and nodal officer for the project P K Das.The project was conceived about a decade ago by the Berhampur Development Authority to ease traffic in the city. The project aims at connecting peripheral areas with the city too.
While 13-km Raghunathpur-Ratanpur bypass road would be constructed by the National Highways Authorities of India, 15-km stretch connecting Dakhinapur with Lathi and Haladiapadar and 17-km stretch connecting Mandiapalli-Karapalli and Phulta would be taken up by the works department.
Land acquisition is likely to made in some areas as the width of the ring road is proposed to be 300 metre, including green and commercial zones on side of the road, Das said. The cost of the project would be known only after preparation of the DPR.
The proposed road assumes significance as the city is witnessing heavy traffic congestion during peak hours. “The ring road will not only ease traffic in the city but also make plying of proposed city buses smooth,” said Berhampur Development Authority chairman Kailash Rana. The ring road is also important as the urban body has decided to construct a bus terminal at Haladiapadar, on the outskirts of the town, he added.
The city bus service in Berhampur and its adjoining towns will start soon as the government has sanctioned Rs 5 crore and formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for facilitating the project.
SUMMARY The ministry, official sources said, has forwarded these complaints to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for necessary action
While the legal battle over the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway continues between the government, lender IDFC and the developer DS Constructions, the ministry of road transport and highways has received several complaints from commuters alleging that the developer is issuing blank toll receipts. The ministry, official sources said, has forwarded these complaints to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for necessary action.The NHAI in March had issued a showcause notice to DSC for not depositing the entire toll collected in the escrow account as required. “The ministry has received numerous complaints regarding people getting blank toll receipts at the Gurgaon toll plaza and such a matter needs to be looked in and investigated,” the ministry told the NHAI in a letter written by joint secretary (highways) Rohit Kumar Singh.
The matter came to light in April and the roads ministry has taken up the issue with the authority more than once. It, sources said, also attached one of the blank toll receipts it got from a complainant with the latest letter, asking the authority to inquire and find out the genesis of such blank toll receipts. The ministry asked the authority to take up the issue with the concessionaire, saying it is a clear violation of the concession agreement signed between the authority and the developer.
NHAI’s March notice to DCS said: “In the last several days, the revenue collection is falling and the NHAI feels that the concessionaire is diverting the toll revenue instead of depositing it into the escrow account.”
The authority also added that the concessionaire was also not promoting electronic tolling and monthly passes to the benefit of local traffic. With the increasing number of complaints, the government has made up its mind that it no longer wants the current developer to run the expressway.
Road transport minister Oscar Fernandez last week said that the government would make a concerted plea in the Delhi high court for an early decision.
The decision for joint representation by all wings of the central government and the Haryana government was taken in a high-level meeting between Fernandez, state CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, DSC and senior officials of the road ministry.
DS Constructions chief HS Narula is understood to have told the minister that the company is not interested in going for an out-of-the-court settlement.
A senior road ministry official privy to the meeting said the government also told the concessionaire that it had not met the MoU conditions signed last year but the concessionaire dismissed the charges, adding the government had not cooperated with it.
The issue is in the court since last two years now.
“We want an early decision because the public is suffering because of the delay in the decision and we going to strongly plead our case,” Fernandez said.
FE in an earlier report said the IDFC-led consortium’s R1,600-crore exposure to the expressway project is in trouble because the relevant loan agreement does not empower the lead lender to replace the over-leveraged concessionaire – DSC – even in case of default.
The NHAI had contested the developer changing the lenders (taking much higher amounts of loans) without its consent although these loans were based on the future revenue streams of the expressway project.
(“The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has earmarked Rs 11,885 crore on the projects for this fiscal,” a Road Transport and Highways Ministry official said.)
NEW DELHI: Highways regulator NHAI has set a an expenditure target of Rs 11,885 crore for 2013-14 on its many projects, including flagship road building scheme NHDP.The NHAI is tasked to implement various road projects of about 50,000 kms, of which widening of about 21,000 km has already been completed.”The National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) has earmarked Rs 11,885 crore on the projects for this fiscal,” a Road Transport and Highways Ministry official told PTI.
The total cost of about 50,000 km projects is about Rs 2 lakh crore and about half of which has already been spent, the official said.
The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) aims to build 34,108 km in four phases and it has so far completed widening of 7,501 km while work is under way for 11,459 km more.
The balance of 15,148 kms are still to be awarded, the official said.
NHDP is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to international standards.
Projects worth Rs 3 lakh crore are likely to be bid out under its seven phases.
Concerned over the slow progress of projects under NHDP, a Parliamentary panel had recently asked the ministry to take steps for expediting them in order to attract private investment.
The official said as far as other ambitious projects like North-South & East-West Corridors are concerned, only 372 km has been left for award of work as 611 km is under implementation, while the major chunk 6,159 has already been completed.
The North-South (NS) Corridor connects Srinagar with Kanyakumari, while the East-West (EW) corridor connects Porbandar with Silchar. The total length of the NS-EW network is 7,142 km.
The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 2009 but as per officials the same was delayed due to problems in land acquisition and law and order in some parts.
The Ministry has already taken the issue with state governments asking their support for expediting the project.
A committee constituted by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways held detailed discussions and carried out site visit to settle issues related to permissions required from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the construction of the proposed Metro viaduct.
The committee consists of Project Chief Engineer (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) Nahar, Director Projects KMRL Mahesh Kumar and Project Director Palakkad NHAI P Ramanathan.
The site visit was held along the Aluva- Edappally stretch of the national highway for the construction of the proposed Metro viaduct along the central median of NH 47 on the stretch.
Issues like the width of the road during the construction with barricading and the width of the road after construction of viaducts and the ways to ensure smooth traffic near the Metro stations on the NH were the key points of discussions.
“The discussions were positive and we are hopeful of finalising the matter very soon,” said Elias George, MD, KMRL.
NEW DELHI: Private highway developers are trying to extract maximum relief from government, citing the continuing economic gloom that has impacted their projects. Developers want government to allow rescheduling of annual premium payment for all the 39 projects awarded since April 1, 2010, including projects which have taken off. Premium is annual upfront amount that developers pay to NHAI.NHAI has forwarded the fresh proposal of developers to the highways ministry at a time when Cabinet is likely to consider the premium rescheduling of 23 “stressed” projects where work has not yet started. A top ministry official said they have returned the proposal to NHAI and have asked it to put it before the authority’s board, which has representatives from road, Planning Commission and the finance ministry.
After receiving a proposal from the National Highway Builders Federation (NHBF) and IRB Infra that the proposed premium rescheduling scheme should be extended to all premium projects, NHAI has asked the ministry to put a supplementary note for Cabinet’s consideration. It has said half of estimated toll revenues have been hit due to the economic slowdown.
NEW DELHI: A day after NHAI wrote to the highway ministry to either buy back the Gurgaon expressway project or hand it over to Haryana government, the ministry said it has always pushed the first option. It wants NHAI to resolve the “contractual dispute” rather than refer the matter to the government.In his letter to NHAI chief R P Singh, highway secretary Vijay Chhibber said Haryana government does not seem to be pursuing its earlier intention of buying out the project. “The only logical option, therefore, before NHAI is to buy back the concession as provided for in the agreement, at the earliest,” he said.
This observation comes after Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had claimed on many occasions to acquire the project and remove toll plazas for public good. None from Haryana government could be reached for a comment. Highways minister Oscar Fernandes was out of city.
Chhibber has also written there is a “prima-facie evidence of criminal liability” in this project and the ministry has initiated the process to refer the case to central agencies – CVC, CBI and enforcement directorate.
In the past there have been several questions on reckless loan provided by public sector banks to project developer DGSCL without even getting NHAI approval. NHAI has also charged the developer of diverting a portion of the loan to its parent company.
Ministry sources said this is a fit case for investigation since there have been several controversies relating to the project and the manner in which stakeholders have go for negotiations in the first place to save country’s one of the first public-private-partnership (PPP) projects and then falling apart.
