MoRTH Schedule of Rates

The MoRTH Schedule of Rates is the official rate book published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for pricing works related to roads, bridges, and highways. It provides standard unit rates for all common road and bridge construction items, earthwork, granular layers, bituminous layers, concrete pavement, drainage structures, and bridge components, reflecting national average material and labour costs with zone-wise adjustment factors.

What is the MoRTH Schedule of Rates in government procurement?

Unlike the CPWD DSR (which covers building works from a Delhi-centric basis), the MoRTH SoR is specifically designed for road and bridge infrastructure and is intended to be applicable across India with regional adjustments. It is published periodically (not annually) by the MoRTH, and state highway departments often use it as the base for their own road works SoRs with state-specific modifications.

The MoRTH SoR covers items defined in and cross-referenced with the MoRTH Specifications for Road and Bridge Works (currently the Fifth Revision). Each rate entry specifies the item description (e.g., "Providing and laying Dense Bituminous Macadam, Grading-I, using 60/70 bitumen, 75mm compacted thickness"), the unit (typically per square metre or per cubic metre), and the standard rate. Rate analyses show the assumed quantities of bitumen, aggregates, and plant usage per unit.

State highway departments use the MoRTH SoR for NHAI-funded state highway projects and often adopt it with a state factor for other state road works. PMGSY (the rural roads programme) uses its own PMGSY SoR, which is harmonised with MoRTH specifications but tailored for rural road construction conditions and smaller project scales.

In large EPC highway contracts (NHAI HAM or DBOT projects), the MoRTH SoR serves as the basis for the concession authority's estimate but the contractor is free to price its own rates, as payment is milestone-based rather than measurement-based.

Why it matters for bidders

Highway contractors must know the MoRTH SoR to bid accurately on state and central road works. In item rate tenders for road works, the engineer's estimate and the comparative statement are based on MoRTH SoR rates. Bids significantly above or below these rates attract scrutiny. Understanding the rate analysis allows contractors to identify which items carry embedded margin and which do not.

The MoRTH SoR's treatment of bitumen, one of the highest-value and most volatile-cost items in road construction, is particularly important. The SoR rate for bituminous items assumes a specific bitumen price. When market bitumen prices rise significantly above this assumed price, contractors absorb the loss unless the contract includes a price variation clause linked to bitumen price indices.

Example

A NHAI project circle issues an item rate tender for a 35 km highway widening project. The BOQ has 180 items with quantities and estimated costs from the MoRTH SoR. A road contractor's estimating team reviews the SoR rates against their own production costs, finds that WMM and GSB rates are reasonable but BC rates are below market (bitumen price has risen 18% since the SoR update). The contractor quotes their own above-SoR rates for BC items, provides rate analysis justification in the bid, and accepts the risk of technical scrutiny. The bid is accepted by the competent authority after review of the rate analysis.