NEW DELHI, Jan. 7 -- The government has set up a dedicated early dispute resolution panel to speed up the settlement of small-value disputes worth about Rs.20,000 crore that have slowed highway development in the country.

The pre-conciliation committee, set up by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), will attempt to resolve disputes valued under Rs.5 crore between highway contractors and government authorities before they snowball into prolonged legal battles, according to two government officials aware of the development.

The development assumes significance given that these small-value disputes account for a fifth of the nearly Rs.1 trillion legal claims in road and highway construction that the government has been part...