National Highways Infra issues first tender for road project in Arunachal.

National Highways and Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (NHIDCL), a company set up under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, to enhance the infrastructure network in difficult areas -- particularly the North Eastern region -- has invited its first tender recently.

The first project is to build a road in Arunachal Pradesh at a cost of about Rs. 273 crore. It will bid out projects only after getting all requisite approvals, in order to complete projects in time and prevent project costs from going up.

The firm's mandate is likely to widen as well. Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the firm will also implement Rs. 11,000 crore of hilly road projects in Uttaranchal and Rs. 12,000 crore project implementation of Sagar Port.

The detailed funding mechanism is being worked out, said the source.

The company has a mandate to build 60 works comprising 3586 km at a total cost of Rs. 34,300 crore in the first phase. Many of these works are existing works facing difficulties in implementation by other agencies, but will be transferred to the firm.

Vijay Chhibber, Secretary-Road Transport and Highways Ministry, who will also be the chairman of NHIDCL, said that the company will be lean sans red-tape.

'The company has an initial corpus of Rs. 100 crore. The interest cost will be used to cover the administrative cost,' Anand Kumar, Managing Director, NHIDCL, told BusinessLine on the sidelines. The company's revenue stream will also comprise a mark up of three per cent of project cost, he shared.

The company's mandate is likely to further widen. 'All office orders issued by the company will be there in the public domain,' said Kumar. 'All projects will be bid out after getting all clearances in place,' he added.

'The company will look to set high standards of transparency with most of the work being done online such as project monitoring, e-tendering,' said Sanjay Jaju, Director-Administration and Finance, NHIDCL. Most of the projects are likely to be Government funded.


HBL