Contractors to Face Two-Year Ban for Major Highway Construction Failures

To curb substandard construction and strengthen accountability in national highway development, the Government has decided to bar contractors from bidding for national highway projects for a period of two years from the date of a “major incident” in cases involving serious construction failures, including bridge collapses, reinforced wall failures, and severe road damage.

Reports indicate that the policy will apply to fully government-funded national highway projects, which account for the largest share of highway works currently under implementation.

A specific contractual provision dealing with “catastrophic damage or failure” shall be incorporated into standard contract documents. Invocation of this clause will trigger an automatic two-year debarment following a qualifying major incident.

The parameters for identifying such failures have reportedly been defined in objective terms, marking a shift from the earlier practice where contractors were often suspended only for short durations and permitted to continue after undertaking corrective works at their own expense.

The decision comes amid growing public criticism over poor-quality highway construction and repeated instances of newly built roads and structures suffering serious damage even before being opened to traffic. In this context, it has been placed on record before Parliament that 17 instances of structural collapse were reported in the previous year, including on the Delhi–Vadodara Expressway, Dwarka Expressway, NH-48 in Gujarat, and NH-66 in Kerala.

In parallel, a comprehensive review of enforcement actions is underway. Details have been sought of all show-cause notices issued to contractors since January 2024, along with the responses received and the action taken in each case, indicating closer scrutiny of compliance and follow-through.