R. Suryamurthy
India’s flagship highway programme is riddled with cost distortions, weak oversight, and tolls that never seem to end, a hard-hitting report by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has revealed.
The committee, led by K.C. Venugopal, says a shadow economy of sub-contracting is eating into project quality. Big concessionaires, it claims, often pocket profits without lifting a finger — farming out work to layers of smaller contractors at rock-bottom prices.
In Kerala’s NH-66 project, one stretch approved at a whopping ₹3,684.98 crore was handed out for just ₹795 crore — a 78% drop. Across 20 packages, contracts averaged just over half of what was sanctioned. PAC calls this a “red flag” for design downgrades and shoddy construction.
The watchdog cites the Kooriyad bridge collapse — blamed on bad geotechnical data and poor checks — as proof that NHAI’s design vetting is dangerously lax. Consultants are hand-picked by contractors, “independent” engineers don’t blow the whistle, and the authority’s own approvals have become rubber stamps.
The report slams “perpetual tolling” — a policy tweak in 2008, reinforced in 2023, that allows toll collection even after project costs are recovered. Rates rise 3% a year regardless of road quality. Worse, tolls are charged on incomplete or dug-up stretches, without service roads or safe lanes.
“Why pay for what you don’t get?” the PAC asks, urging a toll refund system via FASTag, just like automated tax refunds.
Despite 5.5 crore active FASTags, malfunctioning scanners, poor enforcement, and no recharge points at plazas mean long queues and frayed tempers. The PAC wants real-time traffic dashboards and power for district officials to suspend tolls during mass events or emergencies.
Perhaps most damning is the revelation that many high-speed stretches lack ambulances, trauma care, or patrols, leaving accident victims stranded. Thousands of blackspots remain unaddressed. The PAC demands GPS-tracked rescue vehicles, integrated control rooms, and real protection for Good Samaritans.
From “paper” approvals to “forever” tolls, the PAC paints a picture of a highway system where accountability ends at the tender box — and the paying public foots the bill in more ways than one.