18 States Sign State Support Agreement With Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
sikkim to sign soon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16:56 IST
Eighteen State governments signed the State Support Agreement (SSA) with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in a signing Ceremony held here in capital today. The State Governments including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and UT of Chandigarh have signed the SSA which was countersigned by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

23 States have conveyed their concurrence to sign the SSA. Out of these, the States of Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Puducherry and Sikkim could not attend the signing ceremony due to previous engagement. However, these States will be signing the SSA soon. Certain State Governments like Government of Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat and Bihar have certain observations which are being resolved through dialogue. The Uttar Pradesh Government has also indicated their desire to withdraw the SSA signed earlier by them. Discussions are also going on with the Government of Uttar Pradesh to resolve the matter. As regards the NCT of Delhi and Government of Tamil Nadu are concerned, internal consultations with the Government Departments are going on and as soon as these are over, these States are expected to sign the SSA. Government of Gujarat has conveyed their support on ‘best effort’ basis. Certain Union Territories like Andaman & Nicobar Island, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli being small UTs having at present neither major national highways nor any plans for future for the national highways, conveyed their support and willingness to sign the SSA should any such plan is envisaged in future.

The State Governments have pledged their continued support, as set forth in the SSA, to the execution of the highways projects. SSA aims at formalizing the cooperation arrangement with the State Governments to the implementation of the extensive programme of development of national highways on Public- Private-Partnership (PPP) through the National Highways Authority of India. The Ceremony was presided by Shri Brahm Dutt, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

The State Support Agreement (SSA) is an omnibus umbrella agreement, ensuring support from the State Government for all projects. The SSA when put in place would ensure timely implementation of highways projects in Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) mode as also meeting the requirements under the provisions of the Model Concession Agreement.

While implementing the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) and development of highways, State Government support is essential in the matter of land acquisition, providing Right of Way (RoW), removal of encroachments, shifting of utilities, rehabilitation, local law and order and providing assistance to the Central executing agency (NHAI/MoRT&H) and the Concessionaire. The State Governments by signing the said SSA, recognize that implementation and operation of the said National Highways Development Project (NHDP) is necessary and would lead to the growth and development of the State.