Projects on marquee economic corridors of Delhi-Vadodara, Agra-Mumbai and Mumbai-Kolkata will be audited first and once the success rate of the gradation exercise is established, it will be extended to other highway contracts.

The biggest contract winners were large companies such as Dilip Buildcon Ltd (Rs18,770 crore), IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd (Rs8,900 crore) and Ashoka Buildcon Ltd (Rs5,500 crore).

The apex court took exception to the 135-km Expressway, which envisages signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal, not being thrown open to the public despite being informed earlier that it would be inaugurated by April 20.

The authority has been asked to wait till other central public sector enterprises (CPSE) issue their InvITs.

Highway construction has been a priority for the Modi government. When the new dispensation took over in May 2014, the construction rate was at 11.67 km per day.

The four-laning of Belgaum-Khanapur Section of about 30 km has been awarded to Ashoka Concessions on Hybrid Annuity Mode at a cost of Rs 8.92 billion, it said.

The model will be tried for NHAI’s greenfield expressway projects under the Rs5.35 trillion-Bharatmala programme where 34,800km of national highways will be developed.

"The company has been declared L-1 bidder by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a new engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project in Uttar Pradesh," Dilip Buildcon said in a BSE filing.