NHAI wins NH-76 arbitration; ₹366.53 crore claims rejected

By Akhil Arora · 17 Oct, 2026

NHAI says a tribunal rejected ₹366.53 crore in claims tied to the 93.5-km Chittorgarh–Udaipur NH-76 project. Here is what the award changes—and does not change—for toll users.

NHAI wins NH-76 arbitration; ₹366.53 crore claims rejected

NHAI says a three-member tribunal has rejected ₹366.53 crore in claims connected with the six-laning of the 93.5-km Chittorgarh–Udaipur section of NH-76 in Rajasthan, in an award announced on 16 Oct 2026. For drivers, the immediate point is narrower: the announcement concerns a contract dispute between NHAI and a concessionaire; it does not announce a new toll rate, a FASTag rule or a route closure on this corridor.

Key takeaways

The case concerns the 93.5-km six-laning project on the Chittorgarh–Udaipur section of NH-76 in Rajasthan.
The tribunal rejected the concessionaire's overall claims of ₹366.53 crore, including a ₹238.18-crore COVID-19 prolongation-cost claim, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
It allowed ₹14.51 crore in claims and a conditional refund of ₹2.82 crore to the concessionaire.
NHAI received ₹33.54 crore in principal counter-claims, including an amount linked to unauthorised toll collection after the project's March 2021 completion date.
The release does not publish a new user-fee schedule or instruct ordinary drivers to change their FASTag arrangements.

What the arbitration award decided

The dispute was between NHAI and Uchit Expressway Private Limited, which is promoted by TRIL Roads Pvt. Ltd. It arose from the concession agreement for the Rajasthan highway project. A three-member Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes (SAROD) considered both the concessionaire's claims and NHAI's counter-claims.

In its 16 Oct 2026 release, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said the tribunal rejected the concessionaire's overall claim of ₹366.53 crore. The largest identified component was a ₹238.18-crore prolongation-cost claim tied to COVID-19-related project delay. That claim was rejected. The tribunal nevertheless allowed claims amounting to ₹14.51 crore and granted a conditional refund of ₹2.82 crore to the concessionaire.

Hindusthan Samachar's report on the same award also recorded the ₹366.53-crore rejected claim, the ₹14.51-crore amount allowed and the conditional ₹2.82-crore refund. Those figures are separate components of the award; they should not be presented as a single net amount without the tribunal's complete order and accounting treatment.

NHAI's counter-claims

The tribunal awarded NHAI ₹33.54 crore in principal counter-claims. The ministry said the amount included ₹27 crore for recovery of work dropped from the project scope, ₹4.03 crore for failure to maintain the highway and ₹2.51 crore for unauthorised toll collected after the project's completion date in March 2021. The award therefore dealt with project obligations and concession-accounting questions as well as the concessionaire's compensation claims.

What this means for Chittorgarh–Udaipur toll users

The most important reader-facing distinction is between a project arbitration award and a user-fee notification. The PIB release announces the tribunal's decision and NHAI's counter-claims, but it does not announce a revised toll tariff, a new exemption, a FASTag penalty or a closure on the route. Drivers should not add ₹366.53 crore, ₹33.54 crore or any other arbitration figure to the cost of an individual trip.

For a current trip estimate, the toll-charge calculator is the relevant starting point for the toll component. The amount a vehicle actually pays depends on the applicable fee schedule, vehicle class and journey. The arbitration release does not replace that route-level information.

Fuel is a separate part of the trip budget. A private car, bus or truck operator can use the fuel cost calculator to estimate running cost from distance, mileage and the fuel price used for the calculation. That estimate should remain separate from any contractual dispute between NHAI and a concessionaire.

Why the March 2021 date matters

NHAI's counter-claim included ₹2.51 crore for toll collected after the project's completion date in March 2021. For users, this is a reminder that a concession agreement can contain obligations about when a project is complete, how maintenance is handled and when toll collection is authorised. It is not, by itself, a finding that every toll charged to every road user was invalid.

The release does not set out a driver-by-driver refund process, identify affected transactions or say that current toll collections on the corridor must stop. Until an official user-facing notice says otherwise, travellers should rely on the applicable fee information and retain their FASTag transaction record if a deduction appears incorrect. A disputed deduction can be checked against the transaction details rather than against the headline arbitration amount.

Project background and wider relevance

The Chittorgarh–Udaipur project covers 93.5 km in Rajasthan and was taken up as a six-laning highway project. This type of road project uses a concession framework in which the public authority and a private concessionaire have defined responsibilities for construction, scope, maintenance and toll operations. When those responsibilities are disputed, arbitration is a contractual resolution process; it is different from a general change to the National Highways Fee Rules.

For transport operators, the practical relevance is route certainty rather than an immediate price change. A prolonged dispute can create questions about maintenance, project scope and the financial responsibility for work. The latest release records the tribunal's decision, but it does not announce a new construction schedule, a maintenance diversion or a change to the route's operating status. Operators planning a Rajasthan journey can use the road-trip planner to compare the route, stops and expected travel costs, then verify live conditions before departure.

What to watch next

The next useful update would be any official notice explaining implementation of the award, payment or refund mechanics, or a separate change to the user-fee schedule. The sources reviewed do not state whether either party will challenge the award in court, when the monetary amounts will be settled or whether any operational change is planned for the highway.

That limitation matters because a government release describing a legal victory is not the same as a published toll notification. If NHAI later changes a fee, collection arrangement or route condition, that change should come through a dated, user-facing notice. Until then, the verified takeaway is that the tribunal rejected the large concessionaire claim and accepted NHAI's stated counter-claims, while ordinary toll and fuel budgeting remains a separate exercise.

Reader takeaway

NHAI's Chittorgarh–Udaipur arbitration result is a project-contract development with a public-funds angle, not a new charge for motorists. The reported award protects NHAI's contractual position in the dispute, but it does not by itself make the Rajasthan corridor cheaper or more expensive for a driver. Use the current toll and fuel tools for trip planning, and look for a separate official notification before treating any future tariff or FASTag change as effective.