There are 888 road projects delayed under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture noted with anguish.
In its report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the panel said these projects were worth ₹3,15,373.3 crore and covered 27,600 km.
“The Committee desires the Ministry to focus and prioritise completion of ongoing delayed projects instead of announcing and awarding new road projects,” the report said.
Maharashtra stood out with an “abnormally high” number of delayed projects. There were also long delays in the completion of the four-laning project in the Gaya-Hisa-Rajgir-Nalanda-Bihar Sharif section, the Patna-Gaya-Dhobi road project connecting Mahabodhi Temple and Bodh Gaya, and the road projects from Goa to Karnataka and Goa border to Mumbai.
The panel also expressed concern over the slow pace of implementation of the Bharatmala project, which envisages development of about 26,000 km length of economic corridors.
It asked why the government had been able to award only 2,517 km till January, 2021, against the target of 6,469 km; and similarly why the Ministry had completed the construction of only 2,273 km as against the target of 4,571 km under the Scheme. The panel said at this rate the government may not be able to meet its targets for phase 1 by the revised timeline of financial year 2025-2026 which is a delay of four years from the original timeline of 2021-22.
It urged the Ministry to also focus on port connectivity projects under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, especially in the land locked Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
“Road stretches covered under these port connectivity projects are of crucial importance to the shipping sector and would help in creating a cost effective multimodal transport system.”
