The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) achieved a significant legal victory by successfully defending its contractual position in an arbitration case against concessionaire Uchit Expressway Private Limited, promoted by TRIL Roads Pvt. Ltd. The case concerned the six-laning of the 93.5 km long Chittorgarh-Udaipur section of NH-76 in Rajasthan.
A three-member Arbitral Tribunal under the Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes (SAROD) examined claims and counterclaims arising from the concession agreement. The tribunal rejected the concessionaire's overall claims of ₹366.53 crores, which included a ₹238.18 crore prolongation cost claim tied to COVID-19. After detailed consideration, the tribunal allowed claims amounting to only ₹14.51 crore along with a conditional refund of ₹2.82 crores to the concessionaire.
In counter-claims, the tribunal awarded NHAI ₹33.54 crore (principal), including ₹27 crore for recovery of work dropped from the project scope, ₹4.03 crore toward failure to maintain the highway, and ₹2.51 crore towards unauthorized toll collected after the project completion date in March 2021.
This ruling is part of a series of recent NHAI legal victories. In July 2026, NHAI successfully defended claims of approximately ₹3,177 crores in arbitration proceedings pertaining to Bareilly Highways Project Limited (BHPL). In June 2026, an arbitration case related to the Tumkur–Chitradurga 6-laning Project in Karnataka was awarded in NHAI's favor for ₹1,202 crores. In April 2026, two arbitration cases in the Panipat–Jalandhar Highway Project involving concessionaire claims of approximately ₹8,375 crores and NHAI counterclaims of ₹2,888.64 crores were settled for ₹819.96 crores in NHAI's favor. In May 2026, an arbitration case related to the 6-laning of Kamrej–Chalthan section of NH-48 in Gujarat, involving contractor claims of approximately ₹174.49 crore, was settled for only ₹54 lakhs by the Arbitral Tribunal.
The successful resolution of these arbitration cases reflects NHAI's commitment to sound contractual management and effective legal strategy, reaffirming its focus on proper utilization of public funds while upholding transparency, accountability, and contractual discipline in national highway infrastructure development and management.