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THREE small stretches in Gujarat adding up to just 87 km and awarded to a Pune contractor have ended up derailing the massive 1,386-km Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project being built at a cost of Rs 1.04 lakh crore, The Indian Express has learnt.
The Pune contractor, Roadway Solutions India Infra Ltd (RSIIL), was first awarded all these three stretches in 2021. Two of these were scrapped in March 2023 due to delays, only to be re-awarded to the same company in November 2023 after it bid the lowest.
At the end of almost four years now, less than 20 per cent of the 87 km has been completed, raising red flags in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. And frustrated at the slow progress, the NHAI is now considering issuing notices to RSIIL, that may even result in the termination of the contract.
When contacted, Navjeet Gadhoke, Director, RSIIL, attributed the delay to “non-provision of land by NHAI”.
NHAI officials, however, blamed non-performance by RSIIL and contractual disputes and litigations for adversely affecting the pace of execution.
The Expressway, which passes through Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, is divided into 53 packages.
The three packages — numbers 8 (Jujuwa-Gandeva), 9 (Karvad-Jujuwa) and 10 (Talsari-Karvad) on the Vadodara-Virar section in Gujarat — were awarded to RSIIL in May, July and March of 2021, respectively. Work has barely progressed in these stretches, even as the rest of the Expressway in Gujarat is almost ready.
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NHAI first scrapped the contract for Jujuwa-Gandeva and Karvad-Jujuwa in March 2023 due to delays, and issued a new tender. RSIIL participated in the tender again, and ended up bagging the contract in November 2023 with the lowest bid.
A MoRTH official said RSIIL should not have got the contract the second time. When asked this question, a senior NHAI official said, “We cannot stop them from participating in the tender. The company quoted the lowest amount and was declared L1. The rule is L1 should be declared winner.”
RSIIL, on its part, said the termination of the two packages was “illegal”. “After rebidding the same works again, NHAI had no option but to give these to RSIIL as there was no default by the contractor,” Gadhoke said.
When there are continuous delays on the part of a contractor, NHAI officials said the authority has options such as issuing a “cure period” notice before taking stern action such as debarment or blacklisting. ‘Cure period’ refers to specific time given to a contractor to set right or fix the breaches before a termination notice can be served.
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Upon completion of all sections, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is expected to reduce the distance from Delhi to Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai by 180 km. It will also reduce travel time by up to 50 per cent to connected destinations. Of the total Rs 1,03,636 crore project cost, Rs 71,718 crore has been incurred so far. Some of the sections of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway such as Delhi-Lalsot, and some sections of Gujarat and Rajasthan are operational.
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