Govt plan new policy for highways

With delay in land acquisition continuing to be a major stumbling block in completion of road and highway projects across the country, the road transport and highways ministry is now planning to award all new projects only after there is a 100% land acquisition. States which commit to
acquire 100% land before the award of project tender would be given a priority, the ministry officials said.

As of now, it is mandatory on the part of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) - the central agency which builds highways - to acquire 80% of the land before any road project is awarded to private developers. But even the 80% benchmark has not helped in cutting down the delay.