New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has issued an “intention to termination notice” to Roadways Solutions India Infra Ltd (RSIL) for poor progress on a 35-km package of the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway in Gujarat, where physical and financial progress stands at only 4.9% and 4.6%, respectively.

Two other packages being built by the Pune-based company, 27 km and 25 km have also seen only 23% and 36% progress. Officials said the slow pace could push the revised project deadline beyond March 2028.

Biggest bottleneck in the project

The 1,350-km Delhi–Mumbai Expressway spans six states, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. While several stretches are already operational and others are nearing completion, three small packages in Gujarat, totalling 87 km on the Vadodara–Virar section, have emerged as the biggest bottleneck, delaying the overall project timeline.

These include:

• Package 8: Gandeva to Jujuwa

• Package 9: Jujuwa to Karvad

• Package 10: Karvad to Talasari Interchange (near the Maharashtra border)

The construction of these packages was first awarded in 2021 to RSIL. Two of them were terminated in March 2023 due to repeated delays, but were re-awarded to the same contractor in November 2023 after it again emerged as the lowest bidder.

In its latest communication, NHAI cited “absolute and continued non-performance”, noting negligible financial progress even after 16 months from the appointed date of August 31, 2024, against an expected 70% progress within the original 18-month timeline. At the current pace, completion of the Jujuwa–Gandeva section by November 15, 2026 is “wholly impossible”, the authority said.

The notice will operate as a 15-day precursor to termination under contract terms. NHAI added that the incomplete stretches are causing significant public inconvenience and that RSIL had already been warned under three settlement agreements that failure to meet milestones would invite termination without a cure-period notice. For the other two stretches, the authority is likely to issue cure-period notices. DeshGujarat