The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has declared the executing agency, PNC Infratech Limited, a non-performer in the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway collapse case and recommended action against the company to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. A penalty of two per cent of the performance security deposit has also been imposed on the firm.

This is not the first time PNC Infratech has faced controversy. Earlier, in 2024, the company’s name surfaced in a bribery case involving NHAI officials in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case against PNC directors and other officials.

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On June 8, 2024, the CBI filed a case against 10 people, including Purushottam Lal Chaudhary, director of the Jhansi-Khajuraho Highway Project, and two PNC directors. The agency arrested NHAI officials, a resident engineer and four PNC employees, along with the alleged bribe money.

The CBI also conducted raids at PNC locations in Agra, Gaya, Chhatarpur, Lucknow, Kanpur and Gurugram. Two PNC directors were accused of conspiring with company employees.

PNC Infratech had also constructed the 56-km stretch of the Lucknow Expressway between Agra and Firozabad, which reportedly developed cracks and caved in within six months. The company was also involved in the construction of the New Southern Bypass, where road sections have collapsed several times.

The 32.8-km-long New Southern Bypass, built six years ago for Rs 450 crore, witnessed cave-ins at multiple locations. Near Nagla Kuthawali and Kakua, a 30-foot-wide and more than 50-foot-deep section of the bypass collapsed.

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Rs 104 crore penalty imposed

The Chhatarpur Collector’s Court also imposed a penalty of more than Rs 104 crore on PNC for allegedly carrying out illegal mining of gravel and soil from land in Kararaganj.

An investigation found that the company had allegedly extracted more than 24.5 million square metres of soil and gravel illegally.