Mumbai, July 3 -- The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has secured an arbitral award of Rs 12.02 billion (bn) from a tribunal in relation to the Tumkur-Chitradurga six-laning project in Karnataka.
The decision was rendered against the concessionaire IRB Infrastructure Developers (IRB) and the project was originally awarded in 2010-11 under the build-operate-transfer model for a concession period extending up to June 2037.
The concessionaire had been required to pay an annual premium of Rs 1.4 billion (bn) with a five per cent annual escalation and, following repeated defaults, the authority withdrew the premium deferment facility in August 2019 in accordance with the concession agreement.
The concessionaire later sought restoration of the deferment and claimed Rs 950 million (mn), besides seeking an extension of the concession period by 138 days, while NHAI lodged counter-claims for premium dues up to November 2022 amounting to Rs 6.79 billion (bn) and for non-payment of revenue share for the Tumkur bypass of Rs 960 million (mn); the arbitral tribunal decided in favour of the authority on these counter-claims.
In a separate matter a division bench of the Delhi High Court granted relief to NHAI in a dispute relating to the construction of the 30-km Bijni-West Bengal Border four-laning project in Assam, reducing the authority's liability from Rs 1.61 billion (bn) to nearly Rs 360 million (mn), a judgment that further narrows the exposure faced by NHAI across contested highway contracts.
The outcome represents one of the larger arbitration results secured by the authority and underscores enforcement of contractual terms in toll projects; the ruling affirms the authority's position on premium arrears and revenue sharing and will influence negotiations in ongoing and future build-operate-transfer concessions, and stakeholders will reassess contract compliance and financial safeguards in light of the tribunal and court decisions.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.