The Planning Commission on Monday lowered the target for construction of roads under the NHDP scheme to 2,500 km for the current fiscal from 3,165 km in the previous year, which was not met by the road ministry.
The road transport and highways ministry could construct barely about 2,009 km of roads under the National Highways Development Project in the previous fiscal against a target of 3,165 km.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters that the panel has fixed the target for award of projects for construction of roads during 2010-11 at 9,000 km, down from 9,806 km in the previous fiscal.
Last year, the road ministry awarded projects for construction of only 2,609 km of roads under the NHDP and Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in the North-Eastern Region (SARDP-NE).
The ministry spent just Rs 11,608 crore (Rs 116.08 billion) on construction of roads last year, against the budget of Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion).
The panel made it clear that it will monitor the progress of projects on a quarterly basis in the current fiscal.
Fixing quarterly and yearly monitorable targets for construction of 2,500 km of roads under NHDP phases I, II, III A and V this fiscal, the commission observed that achievements under NHDP phase I and III A were less than half of the target for the previous fiscal.
The ministry could construct only about 96 km of roads under NHDP phase I, which comprises the Golden Quadrilateral and other projects, against the target of 201 km in 2009-10.
Likewise, the achievement was only about 506 km under NHDP phase III A against a target of building 1,102 km of roads during the year. NHDP phase V saw construction of 41 km of roads against a target of 77 km, while under NHDP phase II -- which includes the North-South and East-West Corridors -- of 1,367 km was constructed against a target of 1,786 km.
For the current fiscal, the panel has set a target of constructing 94.18 km under NHDP phase I, 1,142.74 km under NHDP II, 984.68 km under NHDP III A and 278 km under phase V.
As far as the award of contracts is concerned, the panel found that out of six phases of the NHDP -- I, II, III, IV, V, VII and the SARDP-NE -- the ministry could award work for construction of just 2,609 km against the target of 9,806 km.
The achievement in phase I, phase VII and SARDP-NE was nil. Earlier this year, the Planning Commission had expressed concern over the practice of drawing over-ambitious road construction programmes and advised the transport ministry to set achievable targets in sync with available resources.
Terming the ministry's plans for awarding contracts for 32,936 km of roads by March, 2012, 'unrealisable', it said the target should be reduced to 19,250 km.
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