Why Indian infrastructure claims reach arbitration years late (and how to prevent it)

The Standing Committee on Transport, as reported by Deccan Herald, put contractor claims raised in arbitration against NHAI over a recent five-year window at about Rs 88,100 crore, with roughly 36 percent of the claimed value awarded on the cases actually settled. The gap between claimed and awarded is not mainly a story about weak entitlement. It is a story about when the documentation starts.

The timeline that produces late claims

Why it happens

• Experts arrive last. Claims consultants and lawyers are engaged at the arbitration stage, when the record is fixed and the only remaining work is argument.
• The register is a claim document, not a site document. It is started when a claim is contemplated rather than when the first hindrance occurs.
• Letters and register do not cross-reference. The protective correspondence exists in binders; the register exists in Excel; neither points to the other.
• Countersignature is not chased. An unsigned register is a contractor's assertion. A signed one is a shared fact.
• The programme is a reporting tool. Monthly updates are produced for the progress report and never used for delay analysis until a dispute forces it.

How to prevent it

1. Start the register on the first hindrance and log within the week.
2. Number every protective letter and cross-reference it to a register entry; follow up on continuing hindrances.
3. Make AE countersignature a monthly routine and record refusals.
4. Keep the programme updates submitted and archived so time impact analysis is possible without reconstruction.
5. Bring expert review forward: a reviewed draft application at month three costs a fraction of expert fees at year three and shapes the record while it can still be improved.

The forum is changing. The evidence is not.

The January 2026 MoRTH circular discussed by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas moves NHAI disputes above Rs 10 crore away from arbitration toward other routes. Whatever body decides a claim, it decides it on the record. A contractor with a countersigned, cross-referenced, contemporaneous register is in the same strong position in any forum.

This article is general information about how these contract mechanisms typically work. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for review of your specific contract by a qualified professional.