New Delhi: Construction of roads using the Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) mode is preferable since such projects are maintained in a better manner, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday. The government is working on a policy to ensure that there are no potholes on national highways by the end of the year. The Ministry of Roads and Transportation is tightening up contracts for both long-term and short-term maintenance in an effort to eliminate potholes from national roadways by the end of the year.
Building on Trust (BOT), Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC), and the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) are the three primary delivery mechanisms for new road construction. "Roads built using the EPC mode have an earlier need for maintenance, while roads built using the BOT mode are better designed because the contractor knows he will have to shoulder the cost of maintenance for the next 15–20 years.
At a media conference on several initiatives of his ministry, the Minister of Roads and Highways remarked, "That is why we have decided for construction of roads under the BOT mode in a big way."—inputs from Agencies