Parliament Question: Delay in Construction of National Highway-39

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 870 ANSWERED ON 23RD JULY 2026 DELAY IN CONSTRUCTION OF NATIONAL HIGHWAY-39

870. DR. RAJESH MISHRA:

Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

(a) the number of National Highway projects in the country that have remained under construction and are yet to be completed during the last ten years;

(b) the number of construction agencies with which contracts have been awarded so far for the construction of National Highway-39, which commenced during the year 2012-13;

(c) the reasons for the non-completion of work or termination of contracts by the said construction agencies;

(d) the original cost of the said project, the total expenditure incurred thereon so far and the estimated financial loss caused to the Government due to the delay in its completion;

(e) the action taken or proposed to be taken against the defaulting agencies and the officers responsible for the delay in the execution of the project;

(f) whether the project is presently being executed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and if so, the revised timeline fixed for its completion; and

(g) the specific steps taken by the Government to ensure that the project is completed within the revised timeline?ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

(a) 1,187 National Highway (NH) projects, construction of which commenced during last 10 years are at under construction stage without attaining project completion and excluding projects under consideration for termination / foreclosure.

(b) to (g) 3 different concessionaires were engaged in Financial Year

(FY) 2011-12 for (i) Bameetha-Satna (ii) Satna to Bela and (iii) Sidhi to Singrauli section of NH-39 in the State of Madhya Pradesh on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) for which Appointed Dates were declared in FY 2013-14.

Concession agreements were terminated for all the above three works owing to persistent non-achievement of contractual milestones and continued non-performance by the concessionaires. Subsequently, works were re-awarded on EPC basis and 2-lane with paved shoulders / 4-lane works have been completed for (i) Bameetha-Satna (ii) Satna to Bela section respectively in FY 2020-21. Further, contract for remaining work was again terminated for Sidhi - Singrauli section owing to poor performance of the contractor in FY 2020-21. Subsequently, the work was again re-awarded in FY 2026-27 and appointed date was declared on 09.05.2026 with scheduled date of completion on 08.05.2028.

Total original sanctioned cost of these 3 projects was Rs. 1,597 crore and total expenditure incurred, so far, is Rs. 2,085 crore.

The Government has put in place a framework using multiple mechanisms for monitoring project progress and contractor related issues. Regular review meetings are conducted at various levels with stakeholders to assess project progress and resolving the site related issues of land acquisition, material availability, clearances etc. All efforts are made to resolve all such pending issues, includingcontractor / concessionaire related issues, in close coordination with the State Governments and other stakeholders, to complete these projects.

The Government leverages the mechanism of review and resolution of bottlenecks/hindrances in ongoing projects, in active collaboration with the State Governments and other stakeholders. *****