Yedeshi Aurangabad Tollway Ltd (YATL), a special purpose vehicle under IRB Infrastructure Trust, has successfully secured an arbitration award amounting to Rs 1,720 crore for a highway project, as per a statement released on Sunday. The arbitration proceedings were initiated by YATL against the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) following a dispute over the company’s request for a concession period extension of 870 days and compensation totaling Rs 1,751 crore, according to the statement.
IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd serves as the sponsor of IRB Infrastructure Trust, with IRB acting as the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor for YATL and maintaining its role as the project manager.
The arbitration focused on compensating IRB for time and cost overruns incurred during the construction period due to delays attributed to NHAI and specific Force Majeure events, the statement clarified. Following a thorough review of both parties’ arguments, the Arbitration Tribunal has ruled that NHAI is obligated to pay compensation of Rs 1,720 crore, inclusive of interest up to the date of the award.
Additionally, the Tribunal has instructed NHAI to extend the concession period by 689 days, as mentioned in the statement. YATL was established by IRB to implement the Yedeshi Aurangabad NH211 BOT highway project, with the concession agreement executed in May 2014.
The construction of the project commenced on July 1, 2015, with a scheduled completion date of December 26, 2017, within 910 days. However, due to delays in land handovers and other reasons attributed to NHAI, the project’s completion across its entire length was delayed, ultimately concluding on September 24, 2020, the statement outlined.
As a consequence of these delays, YATL incurred both time and cost overruns, prompting the company to seek compensation from NHAI in March 2021. The dispute led to arbitration, resulting in the recent award announcement.
