New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Test House (NTH) to further strengthen quality assurance and quality control mechanisms in national highway development.
The MoU has been signed at NHAI headquarters in New Delhi by Vipensh Sharma, Member (Projects), NHAI, and Alok Kumar Srivastava, Director General, NTH, in the presence of NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav and Bharat Khera, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, along with senior officials from both organisations.
Under the agreement, NTH will undertake independent and third-party testing of construction materials, components and systems used in national highway projects to ensure adherence to prescribed standards and specifications. The testing and certification will be carried out in line with norms issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Bureau of Indian Standards codes and applicable international standards.
As part of the collaboration, NTH will also provide technical support to NHAI headquarters, regional offices and project implementation units, including expert testing, evaluation and technical opinions in complex and critical cases during project execution.
The partnership will support NHAI’s initiatives aimed at enhancing road safety and sustainability, with a focus on performance, reliability and energy efficiency of safety-critical infrastructure components such as roadway lighting systems.
The MoU also envisages capacity building and knowledge sharing through training programmes for NHAI officers and other stakeholders, and dissemination of best practices in material testing, quality assurance and infrastructure management.
According to NHAI, the association with NTH is expected to strengthen its quality assurance framework and enhance transparency and accountability in the execution of national highway projects across the country.
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