NH 29 Delay Puts Ratna Infrastructure on the Block

From delivery delay to termination fight

The prolonged stall on NH 29 Package II has moved from a delivery problem to a termination fight.

The Eastern Nagaland Sumi Students’ Union (ENSSU) has now joined the Chakhesang Public Organisation (CPO) in demanding that the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) terminate Ratna Infrastructure Projects Pvt. Ltd. and appoint a replacement agency for the Chakhabama–Kikruma two-lane stretch on the Kohima–Jessami corridor.

Originally tendered in 2019 and scheduled for completion by June 30, 2022, the package is now years past deadline.

ENSSU president Vihepu K Yeptho and general secretary Gihuka V Chophy have framed the delay as an accountability failure, not merely a construction shortfall.

The CPO’s move toward a Public Interest Litigation before the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench turns public frustration into a formal legal lever.

Where the commercial risk sits

The contractor is the immediate exposure point. Ratna Infrastructure Projects Pvt. Ltd. faces termination, potential forfeiture of performance security and exclusion from any replacement procurement.

NHIDCL carries a separate oversight risk: it is now publicly accused of accepting repeated assurances without visible progress on a strategically vital corridor.

Execution reality

The alignment serves Kiphire and Shamator districts, where residents are pushed onto lengthy Zunheboto diversions. That geography drives high mobilisation and logistics costs and thin productivity for any contractor—factors that explain the stall but do not excuse it.

A replacement agency will inherit:

- A difficult alignment
- Weakened schedule assumptions
- A compressed window toward the September 2026 timeline

The wider signal

This is no longer a routine NHIDCL delay. Student unions and public organisations in the Northeast are using judicial pressure to force contract termination and re-procurement.

For contractors bidding remote border corridors, the risk calculus has shifted: delays now carry organised, legally backed termination exposure, and underperformance can no longer be absorbed by administrative inertia.