In order to expedite land acquisition as required for projects of road and highway construction, expansion and upgradation, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has close co-ordination and liaison with the State Governments.
Several steps have been taken to address issues that lead to delay in land acquisition, and various directions have been issued, which are as under : –
(i) Determination of the amount of compensation in consonance with the relevant provisions contained in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 with effect from 01.01.2015;
(ii) Providing the necessary technical and organisational support to the revenue authorities in the State Government;
(iii) Appointment of additional officers as Competent Authority for Land Acquisition and Arbitrator for expediting acquisition;
(iv) Procurement of land as per respective State Government policies and including the administrative charges and other charges payable by the land acquiring department as per the concerned State Government’s policy in the Land Acquisition estimates for National Highway (NH) Projects;
(v) Procurement of land through consent where missing plots are left out from the bulk acquisition and/or additional land is required due to alteration of alignment at implementation stage;
Further, periodical meetings are held in this Ministry with the State Government authorities to review the progress of land acquisition for NH projects.
The Ministry is operating 389 toll plazas out of which about 265 toll plazas have the facility of toilets and drinking water for use of public. Further, a large no. of Hotels, Restaurants, Dhabas etc. have been developed by private sectors along NHs where the facility of toilets and drinking water is available for use of road commuters.
The Ministry is in the process of formulating a policy on Wayside Amenities across the length of National Highways wherein amongst other amenities, toilets and drinking water facilities will be provided.
Further, the Ministry is in the process of providing toilets and litter bins at all Toll Plazas in the current FY 2016-17 as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Collection of Toll by Foreign Funds
The Government has approved monetization of public funded, operational National Highway (NH) projects that are generating toll revenue for at least two years after start of operations through the Toll Operate Transfer (ToT) Model.
Projects under ToT model shall be awarded through International Competitive bidding in which foreign funds can also participate, subject to the bidder satisfying the eligibility criteria required in the bid.
As of now, 75 operational NH projects have been identified for monetization under the ToT Model. The aggregate length of these projects is around 4,500 km and their annual toll collection is around Rs 2,700 crores.
The proceeds from such monetization will go to the Consolidated Fund of India, and are to be ring-fenced for utilization by National Highways Authority of India.