A section of the Golden Quadrilateral highway from Chennai–Mumbai phaseNH46: Bengaluru–Chennai section of India's 4-lane Golden Quadrilateral highwayNH 16 another section of Golden Quadrilateral highway in Visakhapatnam on the Kolkata–Chennai sectionKolkata–Durgapur section of India's GQ highwayNH4: Chennai–Mumbai section of the GQ highway near Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu
The Golden Quadrilateral Project (GQ Project) was intended to establish faster transport networks between major cities and ports, provide smaller towns better access to markets, reduce agricultural spoilage in transport, drive economical growth, and promote truck transport.[citation needed]
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone for the project on 6 January 1999.[4] It was planned to be completed by 2006, but there were delays due to land acquisition constraints and disputes with contractors which had to be renegotiated.[5][6] In January 2012, India announced the four-lane GQ highway network as complete.[7][8]
India's government had initially estimated that the Golden Quadrilateral project would cost ₹600 billion (US$7.2 billion) at 1999 prices. However, the highway was built under-budget. As of August 2011, the cost incurred by the Indian government was about half of the initial estimate, at ₹308.58 billion (US$3.7 billion). The eight contracts in progress, as of August 2011, were worth ₹16.34 billion (US$200 million).[9][needs update]
In September 2009, it was announced that the existing four-laned highways would be converted into six-lane highways.[10] Sections of NH 2, NH 4, NH 5 and NH 8 were prioritized for widening to six lanes under DBFO (Design, Build, Finance, Operate) pattern and more sections would be six-laned in the future. On NH 8, six-lane work was completed from Vadodara to Surat.[when?][citation needed]
In August 2003, Jharkhand-based project director Satyendra Dubey, in a letter to the prime minister, outlined a list of bad faith (mala fide) actions in a segment of a highway in Bihar. Dubey's claims included that big contractors had inside information from NHAI officials,[13] that the contractors for this stretch were not executing the project themselves (as stipulated in the contract) but had been subcontracting the work to small builders who lacked technical expertise,[13] and that no follow-up was performed after awarding advances.[13] Dubey's name was leaked by the prime minister's office to the NHAI,[13] and he was transferred against his wishes to Gaya, Bihar, where he was murdered on 27 November.[13]
The NHAI eventually admitted that Dubey's allegations were substantiated, and implemented "radical reforms" in the selection and contract procedures.[14] After considerable Central Bureau of Investigation scrutiny, Mantu Kumar and three accomplices were arrested and charged with murder. Mantu escaped from court on 19 September 2005,[15] but was recaptured a month later. In 2010, Mantu and two others were convicted of murder and other offenses and sentenced to life in prison.[16]
^"Welcome to NHAI". Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 2013-07-23. Road network-Source-The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)
^[2]Archived 19 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine NHAI report to CBI proves Dubey right, contract rules being rewritten-Source-Indian Express
^[3]Archived 16 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine Whistleblower in the 2004 National Highway Authority of India case escaped from police custody on Tuesday in Patna-Source-Rediff News
^[4]Archived 10 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Satyendranath Dubey killers get life imprisonment-Source-Oneindia. com
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