Assam: MoRTH sets milestones for all road development clearances

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In order to avoid delays in the construction of national highways after the award of work, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has now decided to set milestones in different stages, like land acquisition, as well as forest, wildlife and environment clearances, etc. In this regard, MoRTH recently wrote to several road development agencies, including NHAI, NHIDCL, etc.

Regarding the milestones, MoRTH has mentioned in the communiqué that commencement of environmental clearance should be done on approval of the alignment of the National Highway (NH) concerned and completed before receipt of bids. The activity of obtaining forest clearance should be commenced on approval of alignment and completed before the issue of the Letter of Acceptance (LOA). Also, that the wildlife clearance process should start from the time of approval of the NH alignment and be completed before the receipt of bids.

On the milestone for land acquisition necessary for construction of any NH, the agency concerned should issue the required notification within 60 days of approval of road alignment. Regarding the completion of the land acquisition process, the milestones have been set at different stages of progress.

In the event of taking approval from the Railways and Inland Waterways Authority of India, a General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) should be obtained at the time of initiating the draft feasibility report and completed before receipt and invitation of bids, respectively. 

For drawing up utility shifting estimates, the process should be initiated from the time of preparation of the draft feasibility report and completed before the receipt of bids.

The milestones will also be applicable for upcoming pipeline projects in Assam along with NH projects proposed to be constructed in other parts of the country.

As for the intent behind the decision to set milestones, the letter from MoRTH explains that, in order to avoid delays in the construction of National Highway projects after award and prevent contractual disputes as well as time and cost overruns, there is an urgent requirement to synchronize the project approval, award and appointed date declaration activities with the milestones for land acquisition procedures and environment, forest and wildlife clearances.

Accordingly, the milestones are to be strictly adhered to while awarding NH projects by the respective agencies in case of any project for which tenders are to be issued with effect from June 1, 2025.

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