Lok Sabha Question No. 999 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-05
Subject: Accidents on Major National Highways in Maharashtra
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh, Smt. Supriya Sule, Shri Sanjay Dina Patil, Shri Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the rising incidence of potholes and related accidents on major National Highways  in Maharashtra, including  NH-48,  NH-61  and  NH-160,  particularly  during  the  monsoon months;
- (b) the  number  of  accidents,  fatalities  and  injuries  reported  on  these highways during the last three years, highway-wise;
- (c) whether  any  technical  or  safety  audits  have  been  conducted  to assess  the  quality  of  maintenance  and  performance  of  NHAI  contractors and concessionaires and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  accountability  has  been  fixed  in  cases  of  substandard maintenance and the number of instances where penalties or blacklisting have been initiated;
- (e) the  funds  allocated,  sanctioned  and  utilised  for  National  Highway maintenance in Maharashtra during the last three years; and

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 999

## ANSWERED ON 5 TH  FEBRUARY, 2026

## ACCIDENTS ON MAJOR NATIONAL HIGHWAYS IN MAHARASHTRA

999.  SHRI MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH:

SMT. SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI BHASKAR MURLIDHAR BHAGARE:

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL:

Will the MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

- (f) the  concrete  steps  taken  to  ensure  timely  repairs  of  potholes, adoption of modern maintenance technologies and prevention of recurring road damage and accidents in the State? ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

- (a) to (b) Accidents have been reported on NH-48, NH-61 and NH-160 for the reasons attributed to over-speeding, rash driving, non-wearing of helmets, drinking and driving, etc. The number of accidents, fatalities and injuries reported on these  NHs during the last three years including current year are as under:
- (c)  to  (d)  Quality  of  maintenance  work  is  assessed  through  NSV  surveys carried out periodically. Also, periodic safety audits are conducted by the Road Safety Auditor appointed by NHAI. Safety measures, if any, suggested by them are implemented in projects. The details of cases of substandard maintenance and penalties imposed by NHAI are as under:

|   NH No. |   Number of accidents reported |   No of fatalities reported |   No of injuries reported |
|----------|--------------------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
|       48 |                           3287 |                        1589 |                      2499 |
|       61 |                            668 |                         338 |                       586 |
|      160 |                            200 |                         184 |                       132 |

|   S. No. | Name of Project                                   | Name of Contractor                        | Penalty Imposed / Action taken                                                                                    |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | 6-laning of Pune- Satara section of NH-48         | M/s Pune Satara Toll Road Private Limited | Penalties of Rs. 76.10 Cr for period from 03/10/2022 to 31/03/2025 has been levied on the Concessionaire          |
|        2 | 6-Laning of Satara-Kagal section of NH-48, Pkg-II | M/s Kagal Satara Road Private Limited     | Penalty imposed to Concessionaire, M/s. Kagal Satara Road Private Limited amounting to Rs. 8.72 Cr in FY 2024-25. |

|   3 | White Topping on the existing bituminous carriageway and service road from km.381 to km.502 on Surat - Dahisar of NH-48 on EPC   | M/s Nirmal Build Infra Private Limited          | The Contractor was debarred for 8 months from 22.04.2025 to 23.11.2025.                                                                                                                |
|-----|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   4 | 4-laning of Ratnagiri Kolhapur, Pkg-I section of NH-166                                                                          | M/s Ratnagiri Ambaghat Highway Private Limited  | Rs.3.18 Cr (damages towards (i) non- maintenance of existing highway in traffic worthy condition, Non-submission of Drone Video as per Cl.13.6 of CA and Post completion of PQC works) |
|   5 | 4-laning of Ratnagiri Kolhapur, Pkg-II section of NH-166                                                                         | M/s Kolhapur Ratnagiri Highways Private Limited | Rs.3.07 Cr (damages towards non-maintenance of existing highway in traffic worthy condition)                                                                                           |
|   6 | 4-laning of Ratnagiri Kolhapur, Pkg-III section of NH-166                                                                        | M/s Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited | Rs.3.61 Cr (damages towards non-maintenance of existing highway in traffic worthy condition)                                                                                           |
|   7 | 4-laning of Vadape-Gonde section of NH-848                                                                                       | M/s. Igatpuri Highways Private Limited          | Rs.7.6 Cr (Damages for O&M and PR default)                                                                                                                                             |
|   8 | 4-laning of Dhule to Pimpalgaon section of NH-60                                                                                 | M/s. Ircon Soma Tollways Private Limited        | Rs.1.47 Cr (Damages for O&M and PR default)                                                                                                                                            |

## (e) The  details  of  funds  allocated  and  expenditure  incurred  towards Maintenance and Repair (M&R) of NHs during each of the last three years and the current year in the state of Maharashtra are as under:

| Year    | Allocation    | Expenditure   |
|---------|---------------|---------------|
| 2022-23 | Rs. 387 Crore | Rs. 387 Crore |
| 2023-24 | Rs. 365 Crore | Rs. 365 Crore |
| 2024-25 | Rs. 595 Crore | Rs. 410 Crore |

| 2025-26 (Till 31.12.2025)   | Rs. 400 Crore   | Rs. 289 Crore   |
|-----------------------------|-----------------|-----------------|

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

NHs development 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 including maintenance for projects 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 (Infrastructure Investment Trust) projects, concession period including maintenance is 20 to 30 years. Concession period for Projects on Operate, Maintain and Transfer (OMT) is generally 9 years.

No separate maintenance expenditure is recorded in respect of above NHs  stretches.  Expenditure  done  in  the  above  contracts  during  DLP  and concession period is not being accounted at present.

For all remaining sections of NHs stretches, where DLP 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.

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