GEN. KHANDURI CALLS UPON CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRY TO CUT TIME AND COST OVERRUN THROUGH BETTER PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for
Road Transport and Highways, Maj. Gen. (Retd.) B. C. Khanduri
today said the Government would take steps to increase the productivity
of the construction industry. He called for better project management
techniques for improving the quality of construction and to cut
time and cost overrun. Citing the example of National Highways
Development Project (NHDP), he said it is being ensured that there
is no time and cost overrun in implementing the largest highway
project ever undertaken in the country. He was addressing the
first Construction Summit organized by Confederation of Indian
Industry and Construction Federation of India, here.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that
the foundation of a higher economic growth rate lies on sound
and efficient infrastructure. "Construction sector accounts
for 60-70 % of the investment in infrastructure development. For
infrastructure to be able to meet the demand for higher economic
growth, it is imperative that construction sector should equip
itself with increased capability and efficiency. I would like
to assure you that the Government is committed to provide a conducive
and facilitating environment to the construction sector. However,
the industry would need to increasingly modernize and adopt state
of the art technologies for construction and project management
", he said.
During the last few years, the road sector in
the country has undergone a visible change with the launch of
the NHDP. The NHDP is a major initiative towards qualitative and
quantitative enhancement of the National Highways, involving development
and 4/6 laning of about 13,146 km of road at a cost of over Rs.
54,000 crore. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)
is implementing the NHDP. Besides this, the NHAI is also implementing
four-laning of about 400 km road length including improving connectivity
to 10 major Ports. National Highways other than the length under
NHDP (constituting a length of about 44,000 km) are also being
taken care of. During the last three years, riding quality of
about 23,000 km length of National Highways has been improved
under the Improvement of Riding Quality Programme(IRQP). Altogether,
the Government is presently spending nearly Rs. 15,000 crore per
annum on the road sector.
The Minister said that NHAI has established efficient
contract management system for quality and timely delivery of
projects under NHDP and to attract private investment. "Conditions
of contracts are fair and equitable. The contracts also provide
payment of advances to contractors and adjustment of contract
price based on published indices. Independent Consultants are
engaged for each project for proper supervision and efficient
decision-making. The contracts also have provision for Dispute
Review Boards, so that disputes are resolved at the earliest",
he said.
