Bihar blacklists 22 road construction companies

Bihar has blacklisted 22 construction companies, including several prestigious firms engaged in road construction in the state, after they failed to complete projects on time, officials said Saturday.

Bihar Rural Work Minister Bhim Singh said the government will also lodge FIRs against all these companies soon and they would not be given any work in the future. “The companies ignored the government’s request to speed up work and failed to complete road work,” Singh said.

An official of the road construction department said these companies would not be allowed to participate in any tenders for road construction. The official added that Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav was unhappy with the companies for the delay in completing the roads within the deadline set by the government and ignoring warnings to speed up the construction of roads.

According to the officials, these 22 companies were engaged in construction of roads under the “Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna” in the state.

Till a few years ago, Bihar was notorious for its poor roads, with most of the existing roads and highways in a bad condition. However, in the last six years, the Nitish Kumar-led government started construction of roads on a priority basis.