Parliament Question: Maintenance of NHs

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1925 ANSWERED ON 30TH JULY, 2026 MAINTENANCE OF NHs 1925. SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT: Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार् ग मंत्री be pleased to state: (a) the current status and condition of National Highways (NHs) across the country particularly regarding pending maintenance, widening projects and structural safety; (b) the total budgetary allocation made and utilized for the repair, resurfacing and maintenance of NHs during the last three years, State-wise and Union Territory-wise; (c) whether the Government has received representations regarding deteriorating road quality, severe waterlogging, potholes and lack of adequate drainage infrastructure on critical highway corridors, particularly during the monsoon seasons, if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures taken thereon; (d) the step-by-step mechanisms established by the Ministry to monitor the performance of concessionaires and private contractors under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models and the number of contractors penalized for poor construction quality during the last two years; and (e) the target timeline set by the Government to ensure zero-pothole corridors and to achieve world-class connectivity and safety standards on all busy national transit routes?ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI) (a) Development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs) is a continuous process. Out of total 1.46 Lakh km length of NH network in the country, about 36,000 km length is under development, 58,000 km length under DLP / Concession Period, and 41,000 km length under maintenance primarily through Short Term Maintenance Contract (STMC) and Performance Based Maintenance Contract (PBMC) works and also including 4,000 km length maintained departmentally through BRO. Government has decided to take up maintenance in 20,000 km during 2026-27 as part of plan for full transition towards the target of 100% NH network coverage under maintenance. (b) State / Union Territory (UT) – wise details of funds allocated and expenditure incurred towards M&R of NHs during each of the last three years are at Annexure-I. (c) Representations are received through various modes including Public Grievance Portal, mobile based Rajmarg Yatra app and various social media platforms for various issues related to NHs including deteriorating road quality, severe waterlogging, potholes and lack of adequate drainage infrastructure on critical highway corridors. Aspects of rainfall, high flood level, climate, type of terrain, soil category etc. are invariably taken into consideration during preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for all NH development / upgradation projects. Accordingly, construction of roadside lined / unlined drains, Cross Drainage structures viz., Culverts, Minor & Major bridges across natural streams / drainage etc., are carried out as per scope of contract for the project by the Contractor /Concessionaire as per standard specifications and Indian Roads Congress (IRC) codes. The Government has set up an internal mechanism to take cognizance of various complaints / grievances / representations regarding NHs through web portal towards ensuring that necessary corrective actions are taken up by the Officials / Concessionaires / Contractors for the NHs projects. Poor / damaged condition of NHs, has been reported for about 11,500 km length during the last three years and current year, which have been attended for immediate maintenance. (d) The Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has finalized the rating framework of Contractors / Concessionaires including Concessionaires and Private Contractors under Public- Private Partnership (PPP) models based on their past performance. Provisional rating has also been published for 66 Contractors in Category 1 (>₹1,000 Cr) and 164 Contractors in Category 2 (₹ 300 - 1,000 Cr) for comments. Action against defaulting agencies has been taken as per the provisions of the Contract / Concession Agreement in case of deficiencies / damages, such as termination of Contract Agreement, levying of penalties / liquidated damages, debarment / blacklisting, declaring as non-performers etc. 21 Concessionaires / Contractors have been blacklisted / penalized during the last two years for poor quality work execution or other tender violation. (e) 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. The M&R of stretches of NHs, where development works have commenced or Operation, Maintenance and Transfer (OMT) Concessions/ Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Contracts have been awarded, are the responsibility of the concerned Concessionaires/ Contractors till the end of the Defect LiabilityPeriod (DLP)/ the Concession Period. Similarly, for NHs stretches undertaken under TOT (Toll Operate and Transfer) and InvIT (Infrastructure Investment Trust), M&R responsibility lies with concerned Concessionaire till the end of the Concession Period. For all remaining sections of NHs stretches, Government has taken a policy decision to undertake maintenance works through Performance based Maintenance Contract (PBMC) or Short Term Maintenance Contract (STMC). The Government has also initiated monitoring of the quality including defect rectification in NHs projects through mobile based application. This facilitates efficient highway project management by the internal stakeholders (Field officers / Engineers / Contractors / Concessionaires) directly from onsite, through digital reporting of daily and monthly defects, submission of geo-tagged and time- stamped photos for inspections and digital uploading of test results. The Government has also mandated assessments of road conditions through Network Survey Vehicle (NSV) 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 (a) ensuring the maintenance during Concession period / DLP and (b) prioritizing maintenance requirements to maintain NHs in traffic worthy condition. NSV system for road condition assessment has further been revamped using analytics for enforcement of contractual provisions during Operation and Maintenance (O&M). Additionally, Government has also initiated analysis of High- Resolution Imagery collected from Drone Surveys in Drone Analytics Monitoring System (DAMS) integrated with Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning algorithms for periodic evaluation of progress and quality of ongoing NHs works from time to time.ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1925 ANSWERED ON 30TH JULY, 2026 ASKED BY SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT REGARDING MAINTENANCE OF NHs. State / UT – wise details of funds allocated and expenditure incurred towards M&R of NHs during each of the last three years: - Amount in ₹ Crore 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Sr. No. State/UT Alloc. Expd. Alloc. Expd. Alloc. Expd. 1 Andhra Pradesh 414 414 301 280 588 558 2 Arunachal Pradesh 52 52 129 78 178 124 3 Assam 251 251 445 431 393 393 4 Bihar 162 162 231 231 457 457 5 Chhattisgarh 47 47 167 128 107 102 6 Goa 7 7 20 12 40 34 7 Gujarat 725 725 705 626 1,217 1,181 8 Haryana 162 162 242 229 286 283 9 Himachal Pradesh 172 172 165 161 320 307 10 Jharkhand 161 161 244 177 275 258 11 Karnataka 384 384 603 470 423 391 12 Kerala 7 7 217 204 131 112 13 Madhya Pradesh 297 297 425 414 537 531 14 Maharashtra 365 365 595 410 673 627 15 Manipur 26 26 91 90 50 50 16 Meghalaya 91 91 92 71 56 55 17 Mizoram 31 31 123 110 90 90 18 Nagaland 76 76 103 94 132 116 19 Odisha 118 118 243 196 289 289 20 Punjab 117 117 172 155 275 262 21 Rajasthan 619 619 1,281 1,252 965 946 22 Sikkim 30 30 36 36 59 59 23 Tamil Nadu 340 340 448 439 596 589 24 Telangana 142 142 165 97 350 297 25 Tripura 49 49 55 55 80 80 26 Uttar Pradesh 818 818 1,109 1,092 1,550 1,486 27 Uttarakhand 181 181 266 213 305 270 28 West Bengal 270 270 257 255 515 467 29 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 40 40 41 41 11 11 30 Delhi / Headquarters 24 24 81 81 109 109 31 Jammu & Kashmir 65 65 88 82 180 170 32 Ladakh 1 1 11 11 4 4 33 Puducherry 9 9 4 0 2 2 34 BRO 280 271 255 254 250 246 Alloc. – Allocation; Expd. - Expenditure State wise Allocation / Expenditure not done for BRO *****