The Centre is planning to introduce stricter pre-clearance norms for awarding national highway contracts in a bid to reduce project delays, cost overruns, and execution bottlenecks that have affected several road infrastructure projects in recent years.
Under the proposed framework, highway projects may be awarded only after key pre-construction requirements are substantially completed, including land acquisition and statutory approvals. A major change under consideration is the mandatory acquisition of at least 90 per cent of the required land before contracts are issued.
The government is also considering making approvals related to the removal of structures, environmental clearances, forest permissions, and railway crossings mandatory before projects move to the bidding stage. Officials believe these unresolved approvals have emerged as a major reason behind stalled execution and rising project costs.
The proposed changes are aimed at ensuring that projects are “construction-ready” at the time of award, thereby reducing litigation, contractor disputes, and revenue risks for developers. The move is also expected to improve execution timelines and enhance investor confidence in the road infrastructure sector.
The policy rethink comes amid a slowdown in highway project awards and construction activity. National highway construction dropped to around 9,380 km in FY26, below the government’s target of 10,000 km and the lowest level recorded since FY18. Project awards have also declined sharply over the past two years.
According to officials, several ongoing projects continue to face delays because contracts were awarded before complete possession of land and approvals were secured. As a result, hundreds of under-construction highway projects with investments worth several lakh crore rupees have missed their original completion schedules.
Industry experts have welcomed the proposed reforms, stating that stronger project preparedness before bidding could improve execution efficiency and reduce financial stress on contractors. Analysts also believe the move could help restore momentum in India’s highway development programme by creating a more predictable and risk-mitigated project pipeline.
The initiative forms part of the government’s broader effort to streamline infrastructure delivery while shifting focus towards high-speed access-controlled highways, expressways, ring roads, and logistics corridors under the next phase of India’s transport infrastructure expansion.
