Speaking on the occasion, Gen. Khanduri reiterated that the Government has set for itself December 2003 as the target date (pre-poned by a year) for substantial completion of the Golden Quadrilateral, a part of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP). He said the purpose of today’s meeting is to sit together and devise a time-bound plan to achieve completion by the revised target date. Addressing the contractors and consultants, the Minister said while there will be no compromise on the well laid out procedures and the quality of construction, the Government is committed to removal of all bottlenecks that may be affecting the fast implementation of the projects. "I seek your cooperation and contribution in this great nation building initiative. I look forward to your enthusiastic response to the pre-poned completion date and assure you that I am going to hold such meetings regularly in the future where the Ministry and NHAI officials will immediately address your concerns and problems", the Minister said.

    The issues that the contractors raised included speedy provision of excise duty exemption for road construction material as granted by the Ministry of Finance and the law and order problem in some locations.

    The Delhi-Kolkata stretch of Golden Quadrilateral has a total length of 1453 km. Out of this, a length of 322 km comprising the stretches from Delhi to Agra and Barwa Adda to Panagarh (West Bengal) have been 4-laned already. Work is being implemented on a length of 1047 km. The balance of 84 km (Allahabad bypass) is yet to be awarded.