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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has delegated powers to the Highways Ministry to approve all road projects of up to Rs 500 crore irrespective of the mode of implementation.
At present, there is a dichotomy in the approval process followed for award of projects of up to Rs 500 crore.
For those projects which were implemented on an engineering procurement contract (EPC) basis and are entirely funded by the Government, the Highway Ministry had the power to approve projects of up to Rs 500 crore.
However the Ministry did not have that power for projects implemented on public-private partnership basis, which involved investment from private sector.
According to an official release, “At present, projects of Rs 500 crore or above require investment approval of the CCEA but projects below Rs 500 crore have varying appraisal and approval levels, depending on the source of funding and mode of implementation of projects.”
The CCEA approved the proposal for a change in the delegation of powers for appraisal and approval of National Highways projects. This will simplify the appraisal and approval of the National Highway projects, it added.
“National Highways projects above Rs 500 crore would now be appraised by a Committee chaired by Secretary, Expenditure or the public private partnership appraisal committee (PPPAC). Approval will be given by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs,” added the release.
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