New Delhi, December 30: The National Highway development, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Tuesday has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Test House (NTH) to further strengthen quality assurance and quality control mechanism in NH projects.

NTH is premier institution dedicated to quality assurance and testing under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

The MoU was signed by Vipensh Sharma, Member (Projects), NHAI and Dr. Alok Kumar Srivastava, Director General, NTH in the presence of Santosh Kumar Yadav, Chairman, NHAI and Bharat Khera, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs along with senior officers from NHAI and NTH at the NHAI Headquarters in New Delhi.

The MoU aims to reinforce quality assurance and quality control mechanisms in National Highway projects through independent and third-party testing of construction materials, components, and systems, thereby ensuring adherence to prescribed standards and specifications.

As a part of this MoU, NTH will facilitate testing and certification of materials and products used in National Highway projects in accordance with specifications issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) codes, and applicable international standards. This will help to ensure uniformity, standardization and regulatory compliance across projects.

The NTH will also provide technical support to NHAI Headquarters, Regional Offices and Project Implementation Units by enabling expert testing, evaluation and technical opinions in complex and critical cases during project execution.

In addition, the partnership will support NHAI’s ongoing initiatives aimed at enhancing road safety and sustainability. Special emphasis will be placed on ensuring performance, reliability, and energy efficiency of safety-critical infrastructure components, including the roadway lighting systems.

The MoU further envisages to promote institutional collaboration through capacity building and knowledge sharing by hosting training programs for NHAI officers, concerned stakeholders and dissemination of best practices in material testing, quality assurance and infrastructure management.