Three firms shortlisted for sea link toll collection

September 12, 2013

MANASI PHADKE : Mumbai,

Though the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) diluted eligibility norms for the contract for toll collection and maintenance of the Bandra-Worli sea link, only three of the five companies that submitted proposals have qualified.

The MSRDC will now invite price bids from the three shortlisted firms, which includes the incumbent toll collection company Mumbai Entry Point Limited (MEPL). MEPL is owned by Jayant Mhaiskar, brother of Virendra Mhaiskar, the promoter of IRB Infrastructure, and has been collecting toll on the sea link since it was opened to traffic in 2009.

“We will float request for proposals by next week and expect to have the responses in by the end of this month. We think the competition would be good this time. Representatives of the three companies have met us and it seems that all are keen on submitting their bids,” said a senior MSRDC official.

SMS Infrastructure Limited, Konark Infrastructure, IRB Infrastructure, MEPL and Reliance ADAG had in June submitted proposals after the agency relaxed the eligibility criteria.

“The companies that did not qualify had submitted their bids in a consortium with another company. We had said that the bids should be by individual entities. Two companies failed to match the criteria for the minimum turnover on their own,” the official said.When the MSRDC floated tenders for the sea link toll and maintenance contract as per the original norms, only two firms — Konark Infrastructure and MEPL — had submitted bids. Ultimately, only MEPL could qualify and MSRDC had to call for bids again.

 

Source-http://www.indianexpress.com

SoBo skywalk to miss deadline

June 18, 2013

Saurabh Katkurwar, Hindustan Times  Mumbai, June 17, 2013

 The city’s most expensive skywalk, which is being constructed at Nana Chowk, has been delayed till August due to unfinished work pertaining to escalators and staircases. According to the latest deadline, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd (MSRDC) was supposed to open the 510-meter skywalk to the public in mid-June.

 

“Due to monsoon, some of the skywalk work is delayed. The remaining work is expected to finish in a month. The skywalk will be made open to people in August,” said MSRDC managing director Bipin Shrimali.

The original cost of the project was Rs39 crore when work commenced way back in 2008. As per the original deadline, the skywalk was supposed to be ready in June 2009. The cost has now escalated to Rs50.48 crore due to the four-year delay.

The oval-shaped skywalk, which is supported by 16 stress cables suspended from a central tower located at Nana Chowk, has three escalators and four staircases for its different arms. The MSRDC is yet to finish construction of these escalators and staircases.

“We are left with some work pertaining to escalators and elevators, which will be completed soon. In addition, finishing touches are being given to the skywalk,” said MSRDC chief engineer Subhash Nage.

Although the MSRDC claims that the skywalk will witness about 50,000 pedestrians daily, transport experts refute their claim. Transport expert Ajit Shenoy said: “The staircases and escalators have been built at the wrong locations — they are not in the direction of pedestrian flow. So commuters will not prefer to take the skywalk.”

Sourc-http://www.hindustantimes.com

Pune mulls Mumbai model to speed up metro project

June 17, 2013

Radheshyam Jadhav, TNN |

 PUNE: The Pune metro project may follow the Mumbai model of public private partnership (PPP) which means increased involvement of the Centre in the funding process.

The Maharashtra government and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are mulling over Mumbai metro model of Public Private Partnership (PPP) involving central funds to expedite the Pune metro project.

The recent meeting of the state urban development department (UDD) with PMC officials concluded that the Union government’s PPP model would help the Pune metro project raise the required funds.

A PMC official said that urban transport is inter-twined with urban development and is under the purview of the state government. The concerned state and the city implementing urban transport project need to work on financial model and hence the state government is tapping options for Pune metro funding. The PPP model involving central funding has been adopted for the Hyderabad metro project (71.16 km) and Mumbai metro line 1 with length of 11.40 km and line 2 with length of 31.871 km. According to the state and PMC officials this model would help to avoid any further delay to start the project.

In June last year, the state cabinet gave its assent to the much-awaited Pune metro rail project, approving the 14.925-km elevated route from Vanaz to Ramwadi. The cabinet also decided to form the Pune Metro Rail Corporation (PMRC) for implementing the project, which is planned to be completed within the next four years. The cabinet nod for the metro project had come close on the heels of the union urban development ministry’s decision to consider metros in cities with a population of more than 20 lakh.

The overarching model for Pune metro will be Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) proposed model, where 10% of the project cost will be contributed by the PMC while the state and Centre will contribute 20% each.

The remaining 50% will be raised by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) using various options like build-operate-transfer (BOT) and public private partnership (PPP).

The PPP model opted by Hyderabad and Mumbai has helped these cities get substantial Union government funding along with the PPP investment, said the state officials in the meeting. The PMC has been asked to work on a proposal to be submitted to the Union government.

The Metro Story

THE START

In 2006, Union minister Sharad Pawar told the PMC and the PCMC to submit a plan for a metro. DMRC’s expertise was sought and the corporation recommended its model.

COST FACTOR

The corporation suggested setting up of a Pune Metro Rail Corporation to oversee all options. Completion target set for 2014-15 at a cost of Rs 8,401 crore for the first corridor from Pimpri-Chinchwad to Swargate and Rs 9,534 crore for second corridor from Vanaz to Ramwadi.

MONEY MATTERS

10% of the total project cost to be contributed by the PMC while the state and Centre to give 20% each. The remaining 50% will be raised by the special purpose vehicle (SPV) using options like Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Public Private Partnership (PPP).

 

Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

Prepaid card to save motorists from being fleeced at toll plazas

April 17, 2013

MUMBAI: India’s first national highway electronic toll collection (ETC) system was launched in Thane Friday. With this India joined the ranks of the US, Western Europe, Singapore and Australia that have implemented this sophisticated form of technology. The new system will curb overcharging by unscrupulous toll plaza attendants apart from helping motorists avoid long queues or fumble for change. It was recommended by an expert committee headed byNandan Nilekani to ease traffic flow and introduce transparency in toll collection.

Union minister for road transport and highways, Dr C P Joshi, launched the first inter-operable, electronic toll collection system based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at the toll plazas of Mumbai-Vadodara section. The launch function was held at village Tawa near Dahanu in Thane district. The RFID tag is a prepaid tag which is affixed in the upper portion of the vehicle’s windscreen. It works as a prepaid toll account and facilitates automatic toll deduction when the vehicle crosses a toll plaza. The unique number of the tag is scanned by the ‘readers’ that are fitted in the dedicated ETC lanes of the toll plazas.

This reading is sent to the central clearing house and the motorist receives an instant text message alert and an email update. The clearing house pools the money and later distributes among toll plaza management as per vehicle usage. This new facility is available at the toll plazas of Charoti, Bhagwada, Boriach, Choriyasi, Narmada Bridge, Karjan and Vadodara. It will be extended to the Vadodara-Ahmedabad section of the national highway and Mumbai-Pune as well. RFID tags can be purchased at designated kiosks located near toll plazas. They can also be bought online and recharged similarly.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

 

Bids for 1,483-km freight corridor project by May

April 15, 2013

By YASHODHARA DASGUPTA, ET Bureau | 15 Apr, 2013, 03.58AM IST
The railway ministry will invite bids for the first phase of the 1,483-km western freight corridor by May, according to a top official.
The railway ministry will invite bids for the first phase of the 1,483-km western freight corridor by May, according to a top official.
ET SPECIAL:
NEW DELHI: The railway ministry will invite bids for the first phase of the 1,483-km western freight corridor by May, according to a top official of the railway subsidiary that is executing the project. The move is part of a strategy to de-congest freight lines and accommodate the growing industrial traffic.

The 640-km project-part of the 920 km Rewari-Vadodara stretch-is awaiting approval from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is funding the project, to begin financial bidding.

It will be the second project along the 3,322-km Dedicated Freight Corridor to be put on the block. In January, the government had awarded the first project-343-km of the 1,839-km Eastern Corridor-to Tata-Aldesa JV. Preparatory work on this Rs 3,300 crore Kanpur-Khurja section is likely to be completed by June.

The Dedicated Freight Corridor project, being implemented by the railways through theDedicated Freight Corridor Corp of India Ltd ( DFCCIL), aims to connect the important freight lanes between Delhi and Mumbai in the west and Ludhiana and Dankuni in the east.

The 640-km project on the Western Corridor is likely to go to either the consortium between Japan’s Sojitz Corp and Larsen & Toubro or Mitsui, Ircon and Leighton.

The government plans to invite bids for about 1,500 km of freight corridor lines by the end of this fiscal, most of which will be in the western corridor. “Of the 1,500 km, 950-1,000 km will be from the western corridor while 400 km will be from the eastern corridor,” DFCCIL’s MD, RK Gupta, told ET.

According to officials, these projects are likely to cost about 10 crore per km and can help reduce CO2 emission by 450 million tonne over the next 30 years. About 90% of the land required for the stretches has already been acquired by DFFCIL. “The remaining portions are in difficult places or require alignment changes. We should be able to complete this in six months,” Gupta said.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

e-tags to debut on highway from Ahmedabad to Mumbai MAMUNI DAS

April 12, 2013

NEW DELHI, APRIL 11:

Drivers on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai National Highway will soon be able to use a common electronic tag on their vehicles to pay tolls while crossing the six toll plazas. The plazas are operated by two different road developers — Larsen and Toubro, and IRB Infrastructure. Each toll plaza will have two lanes with electronic-readers to capture data from tagged vehicles.

This is the first time the Indian Highways Management Company Ltd (IHMCL), a firm set up to implement the inter-operable electronic tolling system across the national highway network, will be undertaking the job. IHMCL is jointly owned by highway developers, financial institutions and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Trial runs on the stretch are already on, for which ICICI Bank is providing the back-end clearing-house mechanism and has tied up with US-based firm TollPlus for technical knowhow.

Having an inter-operable system requires a clearing-house mechanism, so the toll amount debited from users can go to the different firms that operate the particular stretch.

India’s 80,000 km national highway network is dotted with over 200 toll plazas, about half of which are now handled by different highway developers, and the rest by NHAI.

A common electronic highway toll payment mechanism has been Government’s long-time goal, and NHAI had started work on such a project close to eight years ago. But the project was first marred by a war among vendors with competing technology standards. This ended with recommendations by a committee headed by Nandan Nilekani in 2010. Subsequently, attempts to start the project did not make much headway due to lack of an institutional mechanism, an issue expected to be resolved with the formation of IHMCL.

IHMCL was formed in late 2012 with 25 per cent equity from NHAI, 50 per cent from highway developers and 25 per cent from financial institutions.

As of now, the 22 highway developers, also slated to be equity-holders, include L&T IDPL, IRB Infrastructure, Oriental Structural Engineers, Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure, SREI Infrastructure Finance, GMR Highways, Reliance Infrastructure, Ashoka Buildcon, HCC, Sadbhav Engineering, TRIL Roads, Gammon India and Uniquest Infra Ventures.

Financial institutions expected to take a stake in the project are ICICI Bank, IDFC Projects, Macquarie, Union Bank of India and IDBI Infrafin.

“It is a good collaborative effort. Somebody had to take a step towards creating a clearing-house and connecting all the toll plazas,” said Athar Shahab, CEO, Uniquest Infra, a joint venture between Malaysian Government’s investment arm Khazanah and IDFC.

Calling this a good beginning, K.K. Mohanty, Managing Director, Gammon Infrastructure, said his concern is about increasing public awareness so that people see the value in adopting electronic toll payment.

[email protected]

Source- http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Work begins on ROB on Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road

April 9, 2013

 

Work begins on ROB on Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road

April 08, 2013
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on April 6 began work on the crucial and last phase of the 4-km elevated Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road by launching two 40.5-metre girders to build a 109.8-metre rail overbridge (ROB) in Kurla.

The girders will form the foundation of the rail overbridge, which will connect Kurla east and west. The Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road between the western and eastern express highways is basically a missing link and launching of the girders gives us confidence of completing the project by December, said UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner.

Fifteen girders will have to be laid by MMRDA followed by asphalt work, lighting and other works. The double-decker Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road flyover will provide one more east-west connectivity with one arm reaching Lokamanya Tilak Nagar Terminus for commuters travelling towards north as well as south, another to Nehru Nagar in Kurla (E) and the third to LB S Marg in Kurla (W).

Source-http://www.infranews.in/

Indian government has finally realized the importance of road sector

April 26, 2010

Huge opportunities are unfolding in the Indian road sector. This means most Indian infrastructure and construction companies will benefit from the announcement of new orders or projects in the long run.

Also, a large number of these projects are on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) and annuity basis, which means the companies will have a steady flow of cash through annuity or toll. This development spells good news for investors who can make full use of this golden chance and earn high returns in the long run.

WHY NOW?

The question that may cross your mind is why now? Ever since Kamal Nath took over as the Union minister for roads and transport, the Indian road segment has taken a new turn. He created various milestones since he was given this portfolio.

The most important announcement he made was the construction of the national highway at the rate of 20 km per day to expedite the achievement of National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) targets. This is significantly higher than the current execution rate of about 6 km per day. The ministry has also been working towards faster clearances related to procedures, land acquisitions and other formalities.

CREATION OF FUNDING

Kamal Nath is aware of the fact that improved road network in the country would not just lead to better connectivity but would also lead to increased energy efficiency in transport operations. He also travelled across different countries on road shows to international investors to highlight opportunities and potential in the Indian road sector.

Through these measures, the government has and will be able to rope in huge investments needed for the sector from international and national long-term investors.

Earlier it was difficult to raise money for more than five years or so as money was available only for a short period. However, now that the corporate debt market is developing, long-term investors like pension funds, mutual fund houses, insurance companies and even banks are coming forward to provide long-term capital. Most road projects, particularly the BOT ones need huge long-term investments in the form of debt and equity to fund them.

INCREASING VIABILITY

In terms of the less viable projects, the government increased the viability gap funding (VGF) or grant to 40% from 25%. Formerly, the grant used to be given after the completion of the project. But now it is handed over at the beginning of the project. In this manner the construction of the project does not get delayed for want of funds.

The government is also working on creating innovative ways of structuring non-viable projects like allotment of land, which can be monetized by developers so that the returns on investments are reasonable.

Other aspects like increasing the role of private players through public private partnership (PPP) and awarding of projects on BOT basis would mean that private players now have a bigger role to play in the construction of viable road projects.

A LONG WAY TO GO

India currently has about 33 lakh km of road network spread across the country. This is the third largest network in the world. But, in terms of density and quality of roads, India still lags behind many developed and developing countries of the world.

In relation to our population, the country’s roads are about 3 km per 1,000 persons, which is significantly lower than the world average of about 7 km per person. In terms of quality, about 80% of our roads are in a poor condition and require huge investments for repair, renovation and increase in the number of lines.

Majority of India’s roads are single line in spite of increasing traffic and congestion. Even the conditions of our existing roads are so bad that India’s logistical cost as a percentage of total production cost is considered to be about twice the world average of 7%.

No wonder due to the poor road infrastructure, India is ranked 87th in the world on the basis of quality of roads, which is very low and considered to be the biggest hindrance for economic growth as envisaged by the government for the coming years.

Surprisingly, within this vast network of roads, only about 2% is accounted for by national highways and a very minuscule part is accounted for by express highways, which is very critical considering that about 40% of the total road traffic is handled by national highways.

The slow transportation of goods has also affected the movement of goods among states, delaying exports and imports of the country. Especially, in the case of transportation of perishable goods like milk, vegetables and flowers among other things, which are procured from the hinterland takes so much time that they become stale or get destroyed before they can actually reach the end consumer and the export market.

This leads to wastage of goods due to the delay in reaching the markets. Express road connectivity to the main ports of the country and to major cities is very important to improve trade volumes and discover better prices for farm goods.

WHAT IS CHANGING?

The government has realized the importance of better roads in the country so that it can support the growth of the economy in the coming years. Roads are critical for any economy, especially a growing economy like India with a large population and different topographies.

The role of roads is of paramount importance for commercial and economic activities in the country. In India, passenger traffic is growing at about 12% per annum, while cargo traffic is growing over 15%, which will continue to rise as economic activities improve along with the increase in foreign trade.

India’s foreign trade is growing at 10-12 % and there is an immediate need to connect all the major ports of the country. The government has taken the first step in this direction. Under the NHDP (phase II), the government will connect major ports and build freight corridors, which will connect many states from the eastern part of India to western India.

In phase III of the NHDP, all major capitals will be connected with highways. Also major cities and points that could not be connected in phase II will be connected with better road infrastructure. Besides, plans are afoot to improve and connect rural India to major cities of the country soon.

EASING HURDLES

Most of these plans are not just on paper. In fact the government has already awarded projects to achieve this goal. The government formed the BK Chaturvedi Committee, which presented its findings and suggestions to make progress in the sector.

Based on the findings of the committee report, several changes have been incorporated and more importantly, the government is seriously working on the recommendations, which are quite innovative and provide solutions to various problems that the companies have been facing.

Changes have been incorporated with regard to land acquisition, which is the biggest problem for construction of roads in the country.

Now, NHAI will work along with the state governments for facilitating land acquisition and all state governments have been directed to coordinate for the same. NHAI now awards road projects only after 80% of the land has been acquired.

FEW SPEED BREAKERS

Tackling delays in approvals, decision-making, faster resolution of disputes and coordination among different departments are few other highlights of the recommendations of the committee report.

Essentially, most of the changes are already in effect and new orders are awarded to interested parties. The flow of new road orders in the last few months was the highest in the last several years. This itself speaks volumes about the commitment of the government and its intention to put things on ground.

Also, the projects which were not viable and did not attract private participation were given extra focus and restructured within time frame along with consultations of private players while changing the terms and conditions of the project. There are other measures also which have attracted private participation in road projects.

Large projects will be built on a BOT basis, which are expected to have a higher return of about 18% to 20% on investments as compared to 14% to 16% earlier. Additionally, the new guidelines that have been framed are such that once a project is awarded for a particular road, the private player is given an assurance that there will not be any competition or construction of road, which will make sure that the cash flow in terms of the collection of the toll is protected.

What is more remarkable is that the government now has experts as representatives from development agencies like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, who make sure that the projects are not delayed and hurdles are resolved.

These representatives keep track of projects and act as a liaison between government agencies and private parties. They also bring their experience to structure the project in such a manner that it gets executed.

QUANTUM OF OPPORTUNITY

There are different estimates about the size of the opportunity. But there is little or no doubt that the opportunity is far bigger than what it used to be a few years ago.

When we talk about 20 km per day of the construction of roads, this in itself is self-explanatory. This means that the country will have to build about 7,300 km of roads every year. This is significant as the current run rate is just about 2,500-3,000 km of roads built every year.

One could also imagine the kind of work that will now flow. For the eleventh five year plan which will end in 2012-13, about Rs 3.14 trillion will be invested as compared to Rs 1.45 trillion invested in the tenth five year plan. This is still the tip of the iceberg. India’s investment in the roads segment is expected to be in the range of Rs 10.5-11 trillion over the next decade.

In the near term, about 5,000 km of new expressways will be built and the projects will be awarded for the same. Also, NHAI has plans to award work for about 37,000 km of roads over the next three years.

Besides, under the NHDP’s different phases, the government will award work relating to the upgradation of about 55,000 km of roads over the next 8-10 years.

WHO WILL BENEFIT?

Most construction and infrastructure companies are focusing on this particular segment and their exposure has gone up in the recent past. IRB Infrastructure and IL&FS Transport Network (ITNL) are popular in the roads segment having the highest exposure to the road segment. In the case of IL&FS, the company has recently come out with an IPO and was listed recently.

ITNL is amongst the largest private sector BOT road operators in the country having integrated business model providing service for projects, from conceptualization, construction to operating and maintenance of the road projects. The company has already bagged about 19 road projects.

Apart from roads, the company is also looking for opportunities in airport segments and plans to bid for more projects in this segment. The company’s advantage is its large portfolio of BOT assets and a long experience in the sector. The company has presence across different parts of the country and has about 9,397 lane km of road projects under its belt.

IRB Infra too is a leading player in the roads segment generating almost 100% of its revenue from this segment. The well-known Mumbai-Pune highway, one of its kind in India, is operated by IRB Infra.

The company has an integrated business model having large experience in toll roads and highways sector. The company has about 1,100 km of road projects in its kitty, which is the second largest among private players in the whole of India.

As opportunities are growing, the company should be able to procure more projects and increase its current portfolio. The company will not only benefit on account of the construction of these projects but also due to the collection of toll and annuity from these projects, providing stable future cash flow.

Also most of its projects are strategically located in major traffic areas like Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Surat, etc. The company also won projects in other states like Rajasthan and Punjab and is gradually focusing on becoming a pan-India player in the road segment.

Source: stockmarketsreview.com

TEXT-Fitch affirms SNBTPL ‘s bank loans at BBB-(ind)

April 19, 2010

April 16 – Fitch Ratings has today affirmed SEW-Navayuga Barwani Tollways Pvt Ltd.’s (SNBTPL) senior long-term project bank loans aggregating INR5,474m at ‘BBB-(ind)’, and subordinated bank loans of INR300m at ‘BB+(ind)’. The Outlook is Stable.

SNBTPL enjoys an 18-year concession from National Highways Authority of India [NHAI.UL] (NHAI, ‘AAA(ind)’/Stable) to design, engineer, build, finance, construct, operate and maintain on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis an 82.8km road stretch on the National Highway 3 (NH-3) in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The estimated cost of the project is INR7.9bn, with the scheduled commercial operations date (COD) in May 2011.

The affirmations follow SNBTPL’s reasonable progress over the last year in achieving different project milestones during the critical construction phase. Fitch does note however that the company is slightly behind plans. The entire right of way (ROW) required for the project is reportedly in the company’s possession, with the exception of a three-km stretch of forest land; however, first-stage approvals have been received from the forest department.

As of March 2010, the project has received equity infusions (61.3%), and has been drawing down on term loans – 58% of senior debt and 57% of sub-debt – as per schedule.

The ratings are constrained by the residual completion risk, although a fixed-price construction contract with SEW, whose terms mirror those in the concession, offer protection. Base-case debt service coverage metrics are extremely modest and vulnerable to various deep stress tests Fitch performed. A three-year tail in the concession allows the banks to restructure the loans, if necessary. Some liquidity support is available in the form of a fully-funded debt service reserve account (DSRA), equivalent to three months’ principal and interest payment.

Fitch has factored into its rating the operational track record and financial strengths of the sponsors. This includes the credit enhancement value of their undertaking to finance the cost and time overruns, to replenish the senior and subordinated DSRA and to provide unconditional and irrevocable bank guarantees if event project cash flows are inadequate to create the DSRA. Additionally, SEW has executed a letter of undertaking to the senior to infuse INR100m, after the COD, to augment debt payment capacity and to inject additional funds in case operations and maintenance expenses exceed the base case projections submitted to the banks.

The agency believes that the road has long-term economic potential, and that its locational advantage should have a beneficial impact on tollable traffic. Also, it is situated on the highway that represents the shortest distance between Mumbai and Agra.

SNBTPL is a 74:26 JV between SEW infrastructure Ltd (SEW, ‘AA-(ind)’ / Stable) and Navayuga Engineering Constructions Ltd (NECL). Following inter-se adjustments among the sponsors, SEW has increased its equity stake in the project to 74% from the 51%, resulting in a reduction in NECL’s holding to 26%.

Applicable Criteria available on Fitch’s website at www.fitchratings.com: “Rating Criteria for Infrastructure and Project Finance”, dated September 29, 2009.

Source: in.reuters.com

No state consent, NHAI goes ahead with four-laning of highway section

December 3, 2009

Without taking the state government on board, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already decided to go ahead with the four-laning of the 80-km Muzaffarnagar-Hardwar section of the Delhi-Dehradun corridor.

The state government has not yet given its consent to the State Support Agreement for a 21-km stretch, which falls within the state. The rest falls in Uttarakhand.

The bids for the project were invited in September and had to be opened on October 9. But the Highway Authority had later thought of abandoning the project as the state government had refused to sign the State Support Agreement. They have now decided to go ahead with the project.

“The 9 bids received for this project were opened on Wednesday. A contractor for the project will be finalised within a week,” said M K Jain, Project Director.

“The state government has not sent any letter of consent on the State Support Agreement. But the Highway Authority is going ahead with the project,” added Jain.

According to him, the four-laning of the highway will start from June next year. About 70-hectare would be required for 21-km stretch in the state.

“Land has been earmarked. A proposal has been sent to the authorities for approval on notification of land acquisition. The notification will be issued within a week,” said Jain.

The Muzaffaragar-Hardwar section will be four-laned on built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis under the National Highways Development Project (phase-III). The project will cost Rs 900 crore. The Detailed Project Report has also been prepared.

The state government had refused to sign the State Support Agreement as it wants to develop an expressway along the Upper Ganga Canal from Noida to Hardwar which will also open a passage for Uttarakhand from UP and Delhi. Jain said if the State Support Agreement was signed, the state government had to assure that no alternative expressway — Upper Ganga Canal Expressway — would be developed parallel to Highway Authority’s highway, leading to a competition.

“Since the agreement has not been signed, the state government is free to develop its own expressway,” said Jain.

The eight-lane Upper Ganga Canal expressway, popularly known as Hindon Expressway, will stretch from Noida to Hardwar through Muzaffarnagar and Roorkee. Mumbai-based firm called Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) is conducting the feasibility study of the project and are likely to submit the report by next month.

Source: expressindia.com

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