Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari reprimanded contractors and agencies — Indian and foreign — for poor maintenance of highway stretches and said the government will blacklist non-performing contractors and forfeit their bank guarantees.
"We will not spare bad highway builders and ensure that bank guarantees of contractors doing bad work are forfeited. They will be blacklisted and not allowed to apply for new tenders," Gadkari said while participating in a mega plantation event in Duhai in the National Capital Region.
“Now we want to make a record of retiring non-performing officers. We have created records in highway construction,” he added.
The stern warning came after the minister noticed poor maintenance of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) that he took to reach Ghaziabad to inaugurate a tree plantation drive 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' under the 'Swachhata Hi Seva 2024 — Swabhav Swachhata — Sanskar Swachhata' campaign.
“I used the EPE after a long time and it’s very poorly maintained. The office bearers of associations are sitting here at this event. Roads should be well-maintained. We will not spare you for poor work,” Gadkari said, referring to officials present on the occasion.
In his address, the minister said he and two junior ministers would assess the conditions of the highway stretches, visit the roadside amenities, and take action against non-performers.
“While the government will reward the good performers, we will “drive out of the system” those, who do not perform well,” he added.
The minister highlighted the pace of highway development across India, particularly in NCR.
He also emphasized the need for pro-environment policies and initiatives like biofuel, saying the ministry is undertaking steps based on many studies that could be implemented in the country to reduce pollution.
“The transport ministry has a bigger responsibility to take steps to mitigate air pollution as the transport sector is one of the biggest contributors,” Gadkari added.
