New Delhi: The government tends to have a portal-based automatic approval mechanism for “linear forest” to accelerate the implementation of road projects.
The proposal debated by the Ministry of Road Transportation and Highway was presented before the Ministers’ Meeting Council on Wednesday to track fast highway projects, said Source.
The Ministry of Highways has set a target to build 12,000 Km NH during this year and also to submit 12,000 km away.
The ministry has prepared a plan to complete 36,500 km in the next three years, in March 2024 and also to collect RS 85,000 Crore from completed project monetization.
The source in the government said the main cause of delay in obtaining forest permits for linear projects such as NH identified land for compensation afforestation.
They added the previous proposal sent to the environment and the Ministry of Forest to give ahead for linear projects as the department concerns money deposits for afforestation.
Three ministries including the Ministry of Transportation and Highway made a detailed presentation to the Council of Ministers chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
There is a possibility of similar presentations in the coming weeks by train and shipping services.
PM is scheduled to lead a meeting of this ministry review on July 5.
The acceleration of infrastructure projects will be the key to banging back the economy, which has been hit by a Covid-19 pandemic.
Considering that private investment will also be important for this, the Highways Ministry has set a target to bid 30% of these projects in the next three years through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
The ministry has set a target for the resolution of contractor claims around Rs 41,500 Crore for 2021-22, which is expected to increase liquidity in the market.
Progress in highway construction has become one of the main achievements of the MOD government.
While NH’s average annual construction is around 4,900 km during 2009-14, an increase of 83% during 2014-21 to 8,993 km every year.
This means that while during the second working period of a daily construction of less than 13 km, in the mod regime it increases to 30 km per day.
Linear forest permissions for highways tend to be easier with portal-based automatic approval
