NEW DELHI, Oct 17: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is facing difficulties in the preparation of detailed project reports, as companies concerned are not ready to accept new technology, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.
The road transport and highways minister said that the Government is encouraging the use of new technologies.
Addressing the ‘CRISIL India Infrastructure Conclave 2023’, he said big players in the steel and cement industry are indulging in cartelisation to jack-up prices.
“…The steel industry and cement industry… Whenever they get the chance, they make the cartel and increase the rate,” he said.
According to Gadkari, rating of companies that make DPRs is a big challenge.
“The preparation of DPRs is a big problem for NHAI… There is no perfect DPR anywhere in any project,” Gadkari, who is known for his frank views, said.
“While making DPR, they (companies engaged in DPR making) are not ready to accept new technology, new innovation, new research and even the standard of DPRs are so low that everywhere (there is) additional scope of work,” he said.
The minister recalled that once upon a time, there were 50 big contractors who used to get contracts for road construction.
“I felt that was not correct. (So) I liberalised the technical and financial norms, by which, today we have 600 big (road) contractors,” he said.
According to Gadkari, the problem is that some of them quote prices below 30-40 per cent for highway construction projects.
“We need to maintain the equilibrium between the quality and the cost. And that is also a big challenge,” he observed.
Talking about high logistics costs in India, he pointed out that in India, logistics cost is 14-16 per cent, compared to 8-10 per cent in China.
“Our mission is to reduce India’s logistics cost to single digit by the end of 2024,” Gadkari said.
The Minister also informed that the Government is planning to start ethanol pumps in the country. (Agencies)
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