GVK may get to exit Rs. 3,000-cr road project.

The government might allow Secunderabad-based GVK Power and Infrastructure to quit its Rs. 3,000-crore Shivpuri-Dewas road project, setting a precedent for similar requests from road developers.

Senior government officials said the company would be allowed a harmonious exit.

The full board of the National Highways Authority of India had decided to allow the company to end the contract without encashing its bank guarantee, said an official who wished not to be named.

The company had agreed to pay NHAI a premium of Rs 180 crore for the project in 2012, but decided to terminate the contract in January last year. GVK did not give any reason, but the project to widen 330 km of National Highway-3 to four lanes in Madhya Pradesh was delayed by environmental and other clearances, including right of way.

NHAI, then, moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of its guidelines that mandated forest clearance before environmental clearance. It said the related procedures had delayed and stalled many projects. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was forced to step into the issue between NHAI and the ministry of environment.


BS