What happened

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued guidelines mandating structured public consultations for future highway projects at the Detailed Project Report (DPR) stage. The revised Request for Proposal (RFP) framework for consultants preparing DPRs now includes a mandatory public consultation component.

Background and earlier position

The Public Accounts Committee, headed by Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, examined highway project execution and raised concerns about subcontractors that were not listed with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and may not comply with prescribed norms.

The National Highways Authority of India informed the committee that it has introduced a requirement for subcontractors undertaking work worth at least 8% of the total project cost to register with NHAI.

What changed now