For the 100 projects with a total length of 11,000 km NHAI plans to award in the coming fiscal, existing highway developers are expected to up the ante and newer players set to join the race, ensuring a scramble because the average cost of a project next fiscal will be just over Rs 600 crore, a third lower than the average value of projects awarded this fiscal. This year NHAI has awarded 44 projects worth Rs 40,000 crore. JN Singh, Member (Finance), NHAI, while explaining the low cost of projects, noted that 57 out of every 100 km to be awarded in 2011-12 are under Phase IV of the National Highways Development Programme, which is for inter-connectivity projects.
