414 road projects delayed.

Plagued by equity crunch as well as regulatory and land acquisition hurdles, as many as 414 highway projects are embroiled in delays, the government said recently.

Of these, 120 pertain to NHAI, 43 to border roads organisation (BRO), eight to NHDP, 35 to areas hit by Maoist violence, 38 to SARDP scheme and the remaining to States.

'Such languishing NH projects have been delayed due to lack of equity, difficulties in obtaining additional debt by the concessionaire, delay in land acquisition/utility shifting/statutory clearances as well as non-availability of soil/aggregates in some parts of country,' Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

HBL