NE region plagued by 92 delayed NH projects, Assam has 16 NH projects delayed

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In addition to other issues plaguing the Northeastern region, it has now been revealed that construction work on a total of 92 National Highway (NH) projects has been delayed in all eight NE states. Manipur has the highest number of 23 such delayed projects in NE, followed by Assam with 16 projects.

Among all the states in the country, Maharashtra faces delays in as many as 76 NH projects. The country as a whole has 683 delayed NH projects spilled over from their original completion schedule, starting in 2014.

The statistics were revealed in a recent report by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH). According to MoRTH, from among the total of 92 delayed NH projects in the NE, Arunachal Pradesh has 9 delayed projects, Assam has 16, Manipur has 23, Meghalaya has 6, Mizoram has 14, Nagaland has 6, Sikkim has 12, and Tripura has 6 such projects.

Delay in completion of Assam’s NH projects has impacted Upper Assam the most, primarily the stretch from Jorhat to Dibrugarh. This portion of the NH has become a nightmare for travellers and residents alike. After several revisions of the completion date of several packages in this stretch, the National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) projected October 2025 as the latest scheduled date of completion.

According to MoRTH, the primary reasons for delays in NH projects are issues or bottlenecks relating to land acquisition, statutory clearances and permissions, utility shifting, encroachment removal, law & order, financial crunch of the concessionaire contractor, poor performance of the contractor or concessionaire, and force majeure events like the Covid-19 pandemic, heavy rainfall, floods, cyclones, landslides, and avalanches, etc.

Not all delayed projects face cost escalation. If delay is not attributable to the contractor, price escalation is paid as per contract conditions, which may or may not result in additional cost, depending upon the final value of price escalation determined on the actual completion of the project and final settlement of bills. If the delay is attributable to the contractor, damages are imposed, and there is no additional cost due to delay.

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