Domestic construction companies had been complaining that the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) pre-qualification criteria were very stiff. This, the companies claims, has kept them out from the race to bag the contracts. This was true especially for projects funded by international agencies.

The NHAI, under a directive from the ministry, had provided for some relaxation after consulting the World Bank. Though pre-qualification for World Bank-funded projects (phase III) has already taken place, the ministry will explore scope for further relaxation in future projects.

According to the criteria, a contractor had to have a turnover that is twice the estimated cash flow per annum from the project. It was earlier 2.5 times. The bidder also should have the experience of one project and 75 per cent size during the last 10 years. The criteria earlier was an experience of 80 per cent of the peak annual requirement of the project.

In case of a joint venture bidding for the project, the ministry has stipulated that each partner should meet 25 per cent of the qualifying criteria instead of the earlier 30 per cent.

The amount of bid security was also brought down from 2 per cent to 1 per cent of the contract size.

The World Bank lays technical and pre-qualification criteria for projects funded by it. As per the earlier norms, all major domestic private sector construction companies including Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Hindustan Construction Corporation (HCC), Jaiprakash Industries and the Reliance Industries were left out of the race.

The World Bank-funded projects (III) comprise four-laning and strengthening of the existing two-lane of the 475-km Agra-Dhanbad national highway number II. The international bank has provided $516 million for the purpose.

The section lies on the Golden Quadrilateral connecting Delhi-Calcutta-Chennai-Mumbai, which is part of the National highway development programme.