Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari will present the ‘National Highways Excellence Awards’ to outstanding performers in NH sectoron Tuesday, the 14^th of this month in New Delhi.

The awards were institutedin the year 2018. The first cycle of awards in 2018received wide participation from around the country. Following the success of the first cycle, the Ministry decided to make the National Highways Excellence Awards an annual feature. Theaimis to recognise companies which are performing exceptionally well in the construction, operations, maintenance and tolling stages of highway developmentas well as in the arena of road safety.

The motive behind starting an annual awards program is to create a spirit of healthy competitiveness amongst all stakeholders involved in the development of highway infrastructure in the country and to contribute to the larger goal of expanding the road network in the country. By announcing awards each year, the Ministry would acknowledge exceptional work being done in various aspects of highway management and recognize those agencies which are going beyond the scope of their work to deliver the finest quality of services.

This year, the nominations were opened on August 19^th, 2019. An impartial and independent evaluation process was adopted which had objective and quantifiableassessment parameters.

Theseven award categories are :

1. Excellence in Project Management,

Efficient use of resources with finest quality standards and smooth execution of all project milestones. There are two subcategories based on the mode of implementation of project: EPC & PPP

2. Excellence in Operation and Maintenance

Smooth execution of repair works, periodic inspections, maintenance of special structures, enhancement of the natural environment & matchless riding quality. Based on the type of pavement of the highway, there were two sub-categories- Rigid & Flexible Pavement

3. Excellence in Toll Management,

Effective management of traffic and services at the plaza, such as availability of various modes of digital payment, fully automated toll gates, CCTV surveillance, emergency services, greenery and Swachh parameters

4. Excellence in Highway Safety

Extraordinary efforts to reduce road casualties, establish preventative safety measures and provide emergency response services. There are two subcategories based on the terrain: Hilly Terrain & Plain Terrain

5. Innovation

Significant achievement in devising or adapting a new technology or design in construction that enhances the quality, timeliness, cost effectiveness, safety and/or efficiency in the road development projects

6. Outstanding Work in Challenging Conditions

Special measures undertaken to develop highway infrastructure in a challenging environment (tough natural terrain, complex urban landscape, challenging climate or conflict zones)

MoRTH is dedicated to provide road connectivity to the last mile. In this pursuit, highways are being developed in geographically difficult terrains and tough climatic conditions. To incentivise agencies involved in such challenging projects, a unique category was introduced this year- Outstanding Work in Challenging Conditions.

7. Green Highway

Innovative practices adopted to protect or enhance the natural environment and/or minimize effect of project development on the environment. Green Highway, a new category introduced this year, aims to recognize exceptional work done to adopt environment friendly approaches in development of highway infrastructure, and encourage efforts in the maintenance of a healthy green cover.

Each award category had its ownpre-defined eligibility criteria, assessmentparameters and scoring rubrics. This year, 104 applications were receivedacross these seven categories on an online application platform designed by NIC. The applications are spread across the entire country. The assessment was carried out in three months. Each application underwent multiple rounds of scrutiny. First the data and documents submitted by the applicants were evaluated, and then shortlisted projects were visited on-site by a team of trained experts to corroborate the submitted data from findings on the field.

Detailed project profiles of the top 40 shortlisted projects were presented before an esteemed jury panel, who checked all the aspects of each projects and finalized 12 winners across the seven categories.

Toll authorities which have managed the best implementation of FASTag technology will also be awarded for increased automation in toll collection.

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RCJ/MS