By S&S Co. Advocates & Solicitors · Published 20 September 2026 · Informational content, not legal advice — see our disclaimer
The Multi-Tier Structure: DRB First, Always
NHAI's standard EPC, HAM and BOT (Toll) agreements, in their post-September 2020 templates, require disputes to first go to a project-level Dispute Resolution Board of technical and legal experts before any conciliation or arbitration can be invoked. Contractors who skip this step, or who file for arbitration before genuinely exhausting the DRB process, risk their claim being resisted on maintainability grounds before it is even heard on the merits.
Mandatory CCIE Conciliation Before Arbitration
If a party is dissatisfied with — or the DRB fails to decide — a dispute, conciliation before NHAI's Conciliation Committee of Independent Experts (CCIE) is mandatory before arbitration can be invoked. Contractors reportedly must submit a conciliation proposal within a set window, commonly cited as 28 days, of the DRB decision, though this window can vary by agreement vintage and should be checked against the specific contract clause in force for the project.
The 2026 Value-Based Arbitration Threshold
A 2026 NHAI policy change, reported as Policy Circular No. 11.82 of 2026, moves to a value-based approach for which disputes actually proceed to arbitration: disputes below a threshold reported at Rs. 10 crore proceed to arbitration, while higher-value claims are diverted to conciliation or civil court rather than arbitration — a significant shift for contractors planning claims strategy. Because only secondary and trade-press sources report the exact circular number and threshold, contractors should verify the current figure against the actual NHAI circular text before assuming arbitration is available for a given claim size.
Land Acquisition Is a Separate Track Entirely
Land acquisition compensation disputes under Section 3G of the National Highways Act, 1956 run on an entirely separate statutory arbitration track from EPC contract disputes, with the arbitrator appointed solely by the Central Government. The Supreme Court's Manav Bhanot v. NHAI ruling (2026 INSC 973, 8 September 2026) clarified that for Section 3G land acquisition awards, whether 1894 Act or 2013 Act solatium and interest rates apply turns on the date the Competent Authority first determined compensation, not the date of a later arbitral award — a rule that applies only to this separate land-acquisition track, not to ordinary EPC contract disputes.
A Practical Checklist for Contractors
Contractors navigating an NHAI dispute should: preserve DRB referral timelines and documentation from the outset; document claims contemporaneously to build the record needed for the CCIE stage; verify the current claim-value threshold against the latest NHAI circular before assuming arbitration is available for a given dispute; and treat Section 3G land-acquisition disputes and EPC contract disputes as procedurally distinct tracks that should not be conflated in strategy or pleadings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a contractor go straight to arbitration against NHAI?
No. NHAI's standard EPC/HAM/BOT templates require disputes to first go through the project-level Dispute Resolution Board, then mandatory conciliation before the Conciliation Committee of Independent Experts, before arbitration can be invoked at all.
Is arbitration still available for all NHAI dispute values?
Not since a 2026 NHAI policy change reportedly moved to a value-based approach: disputes below a reported Rs. 10 crore threshold proceed to arbitration, while higher-value claims are diverted to conciliation or civil court instead. This threshold should be confirmed against the current NHAI circular before assuming arbitration is available.
Does the Manav Bhanot ruling on solatium apply to EPC contract disputes?
No. That Supreme Court ruling addresses Section 3G land acquisition compensation disputes under the National Highways Act, which run on a separate statutory arbitration track with a Central Government-appointed arbitrator — a distinct process from EPC/HAM/BOT contract disputes.
References & Further Reading
This article references the following statutory provisions. Readers should always verify current rules, fees and timelines against the applicable statute and rules as amended, since these are revised from time to time.
- National Highways Act, 1956, Section 3G.
- NHAI standard EPC/HAM/BOT(Toll) agreement templates (post-September 2020), DRB and CCIE clauses.
- Manav Bhanot v. National Highway Authority of India, 2026 INSC 973 (8 September 2026).