Governance
Performance Assessment of Highways by NHAI
- 07 Jul 2020
- 4 min read
Why in News
Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to undertake performance assessment and ranking of the highways in the country.
- The assessment activity majorly intended to improve the quality of roads in the country.
Key Points
- Parameters for Assessment:
- The criteria for the assessment have been broadly categorised in three main heads namely, Highway Efficiency (45%), Highway Safety (35%) and User Services (20%).
- Additionally, important parameters like operating speed, time taken at toll plaza, road signages, road markings, accident rate,illumination, availability of Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS), functionality of structures, cleanliness, plantation, wayside amenities and customer satisfaction will also be considered while conducting the assessment.
- Apart from overall ranking of all the corridors, separate ranking for Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT), Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) projects will also be done..
- BOT is a conventional PPP model in which a private partner is responsible to design, build, operate (during the contracted period) and transfer back the facility to the public sector.
- In the case of HAM, the central government bears 40% of the project cost and the remaining amount is arranged by the developer.
- Under the EPC model, the cost is completely borne by the government.
- The ranking of the corridors will be dynamic and the operators will get the opportunity to improve upon their ranking by improving the services on that corridor.
- Significance:
- The score obtained by each Corridor in each of the parameters will provide feedback and corrective recourse for higher standards of operation, better safety and user experience to improve existing highways.
- It will also help in identifying and filling gaps of design, standards, practices, guidelines and contract agreements for other NHAI projects.
- The ranking for BOT, HAM and EPC projects is expected to bring out operational efficiency and ensure high quality maintenance of roads.
- On the basis of outcome of the assessment, the authority will undertake a comprehensive analysis and decide on the level of intervention required to enhance the overall service quality.
National Highway Authority of India
- National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was set up under NHAI Act, 1988.
- It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
- It has been entrusted with the National Highways Development Project, along with other minor projects for development, maintenance and management.
- National Highways Development Project (NHDP) is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard.
- The project was started in 1998.
- NHAI maintains the National Highways network to global standards and cost effective manner and promotes economic well being and quality of life of the people.
