National Highways Builders Federation (NHBF) has written to the government urging it to provide financial relief to concessionares and EPC contractors in the backdrop of a lockdown due to Covid-19.
The relief will help the concessionaires in paying staff salaries and other expenses incurred. With the Covid-19 outbreak, the entire highway industry is a complete standstill with a cascading effect on project concessionaires or contractors who have invested huge amounts in the projects, NHBH wrote in a note addressing S S Sandhu, Chairman of NHAI.
The issue on hand related to the lockdown (which started on March 24, which has been extended till May 3. During the lockdown period, the concessionaires have not collected any revenues from toll collection as per NHAI’s instructions. The government has declared lockdown as a force majeure event for road developers.
