Lok Sabha Question No. 392 (STARRED), answered on 2025-03-27
Subject: Quality Maintenance of Highways
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Shri Sunil Kumar

## be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  made  provision  for  five  year tenured maintenance of National Highways (NHs) by the contractors post-construction;
- (b)  if  so,  the  manner  in  which  the  Government  would  enforce  the newly introduced requirement for contractors to maintain National Highways for up to five years post-construction;
- (c) the mechanisms in place to ensure that maintenance obligations are  fulfilled  without  contractors  cutting  costs  at  the  expense  of road quality; and
- (d) the manner  in which  the Government  would  ensure  that maintenance records and quality assessments are transparent and accessible to the public?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

- (a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 392

ANSWERED ON 27 TH  MARCH, 2025

## QUALITY MAINTENANCE OF HIGHWAYS

*392.  SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR: SHRI SUNIL KUMAR:

Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (d) OF LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  392  ANSWERED  ON  27.03.2025 ASKED BY SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR AND SHRI SUNIL KUMAR REGARDING QUALITY MAINTENANCE OF HIGHWAYS

(a) and (b)        The Government has prioritized the maintenance of existing  National  Highway  (NH)  network  and  inter-alia  evolved  a mechanism  to  ensure  Maintenance  and  Repair  (M&R)  of  all  NHs sections through accountable maintenance agency.

NHs projects are executed on mainly three modes i.e. (i) Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), (ii) Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and (iii) Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC). Concession period  for  projects  including  maintenance  on  Build  Operate  and Transfer (BOT) is 15 to 20 years and on Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) is generally 15 years. Concessionaire is responsible for maintenance of the respective NHs stretches within the concession period of the project. Only in case of EPC projects, Defect Liability period (DLP) is 5 years for the bituminous pavement works and 10 years for concrete pavement works.

For Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) and InvIT projects, concession period  including  maintenance  is  for  20  to  30  years.  Concession period  for  Projects  on  Operate,  Maintain  and  Transfer  (OMT)  is generally 9 years.

For all remaining sections of NHs stretches where DLP period has ended or is not under any concession period of BOT/HAM/TOT/InvIT project, Government has taken a policy decision  to  undertake  maintenance  works  through  Performance Based  Maintenance  Contract  (PBMC)  or  Short  Term  Maintenance Contract (STMC). While STMC works are generally undertaken for a contract  period  of  1-2  year,  PBMC  works  are  undertaken  for  a contract period of about 5-7 years. During the current Financial Year 2024-25,  Government  has  approved  STMC  works  in  17,884  km length costing Rs.2,842 Crore and PBMC works in 6,118 km length costing Rs.6,757 Crore.

- (c)        Repair of identified defects / issues in the road condition as well  as  other  maintenance  /  repair  works  are  completed  by  the Contractor  /  Concessionaire  within  the  stipulated  timeline  as  per provisions  of  the  Contract.  Compliance  is  ensured  through  regular field  reports  and  penalty  provisions  incorporated  in  the  Contract documents for action against defaulting Contractor / Concessionaire.

Government encourages the adoption of innovative technologies or methods to enhance the durability and reduce the maintenance  requirements  of  NHs  (depending  upon  factors  like rainfall,  terrain  type,  soil  category  etc.).  Such   technologies  or methods include stabilization of subgrade, geosynthetic reinforced layer(s) in sub-base / base, concrete roads / whitetopping, perpetual pavement, High performance bituminous mixes, modified bitumen / bituminous  mixes,  Fiber  Reinforced  Concrete,  Cement  Grouted Bituminous  Mixes,  etc.  Automated  and  Intelligent  Machine-Aided Construction has been adopted which ensures cloud based maintenance records and quality work.

- (d)         Road  condition  assessment is carried out through Network Survey  Vehicle  (NSV)  for  the  NHs  stretches  before  start  of  work, before  issue  of  completion  certificate  and  thereafter  at  regular intervals  of  six  months  after  completion  of  the  work,  thereby enabling  quality  assessment  of  NHs  at  regular  intervals  for  (i) ensuring  the  maintenance  during  Concession  period  /  DLP  and  (ii) prioritizing  maintenance  requirements  to  maintain  NHs  in  traffic worthy condition.

Further,  app  based  monitoring  through  National  Highways Authority  of  India  (NHAI)  One  /  Tatpar  App  facilitates,  highway project  management  by  Field  officers  /  Engineers  /  Contractors  / Concessionaires  directly  from  onsite,  through  digital  reporting  of daily  and  monthly  defects,  submission  of  geo-tagged  and  timestamped photos for inspections and digital uploading of test results.

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