The Bengal public works department (PWD) might lose seven projects worth ₹26,000 crore to widen 490km stretches of national highways in the state because of a delay in acquiring plots for the expansion.
If the Centre hands over the projects to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for execution, the Mamata Banerjee government could face troubles on several fronts.
Two recent developments fuelled the apprehension that the Union government would hand over the projects to the NHAI, a central undertaking.
The first was a letter by Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari urging chief minister Mamata Banerjee to take initiatives to complete 20 ongoing NH projects in Bengal. The second was the Centre’s takeover of NH10’s maintenance from the state PWD citing a delay in the completion of the repairs.
“The projects that could be taken over from the state PWD have already been sanctioned and those are in addition to 20 projects that the Union minister mentioned in his letter. If the state fails to complete the land acquisition process at the earliest, these projects which are supposed to be carried out by the state PWD could be handed over to the NHAI,” said a senior bureaucrat.
Sources said the state PWD was entrusted with widening NH stretches of 490km at a cost of ₹26,564 crore and the projects would have to be completed within the next three years.
Both the NHAI and the state PWD strengthen and maintain national highways which pass through Bengal. The state has 3,580km of national highways and the state PWD maintains stretches of 1,633km. The NHAI maintains 1,850km of the roads, while the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), another central utility, repairs and revamps 97km of the highways.
“The situation is worrisome as the Centre has already hinted that it could take over all projects from the implementing agencies of state governments across the country if the works get delayed,” said a senior state government official at Nabanna.
Senior officials at Nabanna point out that if the Centre takes over the projects and hands them to the NHAI, it will deal a serious blow to the state government in
several ways.
First, if the state PWD no longer implements the projects, the Bengal government could not give employment to MGNREGA job card holders under the schemes. The Mamata administration depended on the projects implemented by the state agencies to employ 1.5 crore job card holders after the Centre stopped the release of funds under the MGNREGA alleging misappropriation of funds. The state has set a target of giving 50 days of jobs to each cardholder in a financial year.
Second, if the state PWD executes the road projects, it can buy the raw materials from within Bengal. It would have pumped a huge amount into rural and suburban areas, which could boost the local economy. If the NHAI takes over the projects, a large portion of the raw materials could be brought from neighbouring states like Jharkhand.
Third, if the projects are taken away by the Centre, it would definitely hurt the morale of the PWD. The morale of the state PWD has already been hit after the Centre took over the responsibility of maintaining NH10, an important highway that connects Sikkim with Siliguri, from the state PWD.
“The problem of land acquisition was critical in districts like East Midnapore, Birbhum, East Burdwan, West Burdwan and Jalpaiguri where most of the projects have been proposed and sanctioned. So, senior officials are in a soup,” said a source.
A senior government official said the state had decided to go slow on acquiring land ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
“Acquisition of land never makes the land owners happy. So, the ruling establishment decided to take a cautious step in acquiring land for roads as well as railway projects ahead of the polls. Once the polls are over, the state would try to implement the projects at the earliest,” said a source.
