NHAI Partners with Norwegian Institute to Boost Tunnel Engineering Expertise

New Delhi: National Highways Authority of India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo to enhance technical expertise in tunnel engineering and highway infrastructure development.

According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the five-year partnership aims to strengthen engineering capabilities, especially in geologically sensitive and difficult terrains, by leveraging NGI’s globally recognised expertise in geotechnical engineering and natural hazard management.

Under the agreement, NGI will support planning, design, assessment and monitoring of major infrastructure projects. Its role will include consultancy services for tunnel construction, slope stability analysis and monitoring, as well as safety evaluations of operational tunnels.

The Norwegian institute will also assist in site characterisation studies, preparation of feasibility reports and Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for upcoming tunnel projects across India.

In addition, NGI will provide advanced assessments to identify slope-related risks and recommend mitigation measures to improve infrastructure safety. The collaboration will further focus on analysing and interpreting InSAR data for slopes and developing early warning systems to reduce the risk of natural hazards.

The partnership also places strong emphasis on institutional capacity building and knowledge sharing. Both organisations will jointly conduct workshops, seminars, technical training programmes and research initiatives aimed at improving the highway sector’s technical expertise.

The ministry stated that the arrangement is non-exclusive, allowing both parties to independently work with other organisations on separate projects whenever required.

The collaboration reflects growing cooperation between India and Norway in infrastructure development, sustainable engineering and technology exchange.

With inputs from IANS