Various amendments to the Central Road Fund Act, 2000 unlocked more funds to States for state roads projects under the Central Road Sector Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) but the existing criteria pose obstacles for the North-eastern States to get higher allocations. The problem is often compounded by the failure of the States in the timely submission of utilization certificates against funds already released. The criteria for allocation of CRIF funds are based on 30% weightage to fuel consumption and 70% weightage to the geographical area of the State or the Union Territory. Low volumes of fuel consumption and smaller geographical areas of the states in the region put the states in the region at disadvantage compared to states with large geographical areas and higher consumption of fuels. Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell data of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas show that region-wise total sales of all petroleum products are the lowest in the northeast region. Total sales of all petroleum products in the northeast region in 2020-21 was just 4,262 thousand metric tonnes (MT) as compared to 50,812 thousand MT in North Region, 23,246 thousand MT in East Region, 51,590 thousand MT in West Region and 42,697 thousand MT in South Region. State-wise data also brings out a picture of low consumption in the region. Assam accounted for the highest sales of 2,710 thousand MT in 2020-21 among all states in the northeast region as against 21,940 thousand MT in Gujarat and 18,090 thousand MT in Uttar Pradesh. Total sales of all petroleum products in other North-eastern states ranged between 108 thousand MT (Sikkim) and 409 thousand MT (Meghalaya) which explain lower amounts of accruals and lower amounts of allocations for state road projects under CRIF. Historic data of sales also show the same picture. Geographical area-wise, Arunachal Pradesh-the state with the largest area in the northeast region is ranked at 14 from the top and Assam-the state with the second-largest area is placed at rank 16. It is heartening to know that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has noted that "the existing criteria might be resulting into the very low allocation of CRIF funds to the North-Eastern States since they are smaller in the area and the traffic plying in those States is also on the lower side." The Committee has also recommended that the Ministry may consider making some special changes to the existing criteria to permit higher allocation under CRIF to the North-eastern States "given their sensitive location and difficult terrain". The Committee's report, however, highlighted the issue of quality roads constructed under CRIF as some contracts are awarded to bids about 32-32% lesser than the approved estimated cost. The Ministry and the States acting on the suggestion by the parliamentary panel for a benchmark of cost of road projects and frequent inspection to check construction quality is also crucial to ensure allocated fund is put to good use for the benefit of the general public. A key recommendation made by the committee to deal with the problem is that the Ministry may either come out with upper and lower limits for bidding for road projects or establish a mechanism to strictly monitor the quality and progress of road projects awarded to substantially low bids. In cases where poor performance and poor quality of road projects is noticed, the contractor must be suitably penalised, and their past project record must be duly considered before awarding any road projects in the future. Under the existing rules, the Central Government is no longer responsible for sanctioning schemes and projects and States are to sanction works under CRIF. Besides, 10% of allocations are to be earmarked for road safety works. Following modified sanctioning rules, the Ministry only approves the projects which are identified and submitted by the State Governments and, therefore, the larger responsibility for ensuring the quality of project work under CRIF state roads lies with the State Government. As the Ministry releases funds to the State Governments and Union Territories in quarterly instalments linked to utilization certificates, timely submission of duly audited utilization certificates is also critical to the actual and timely release of funds and expeditious completion of projects. For a landlocked region like the northeast, road connectivity plays a critical role in accelerating growth and development. As resources of the states in the region are limited, the flow of adequate fund for connectivity projects are crucial to end regional disparity so that North-eastern states do not lag far behind the advanced states in the country. The exiting criteria under CRIF have put the state at disadvantage compared to states in the developed region with higher volumes of fuel consumption and larger geographical areas. The Central Government acting on the recommendation of the parliamentary standing committee to change the criteria for CRIF allocations will go a long way in ensuring equitable distribution of funds among all states.