Public Private Partnership era ends, Centre to fund roads

New Delhi: All highways projects costing more than Rs 50 crore will now be taken under EPC mode with a slew of steps being taken to infuse a fresh capital in the road sector, the government on Thursday said.

“The ministry has decided to take all projects costing Rs 50 crore on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode,” MoS for highways Krishanpal Gurjar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Unlike PPP model where the private sector has to fund the road building, in the EPC model, the government funds a highway, with private firms designing and building the road. He said the government has taken a number of steps to boost investor sentiments and encourage investment in roads in order to expedite projects.

“These include formation of a expert settlement advisory committee for one time settlement of old cases pending in the courts; to complete all approvals prior to award of a project; streamline the process of grant of clearances, facilitating exit to equity investors and infuse fresh capital,” he said.