IRB bags Rs 10,050-cr Zoji La pass tunnel project in J&K

Punj Lloyd awarded four highway projects for Rs 1,555 cr

In a bid to speed up infrastructure construction, the ministry of road, transport and highways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) awarded projects worth Rs 11,605 crore to private companies.

IRB Infrastructure Developers received letter of award to construct the Zoji La pass tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), the longest tunnel in south-east Asia, costing Rs 10,050 crore.

Punj Lloyd was awarded four highway projects in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Punjab totalling Rs 1,555 crore.

The Zoji La pass tunnel is the largest national highway project awarded in India in terms of project cost, said IRB Infra in a public statement. NH-1 has a tunnel length of 14.08 km. It will include approaches on NH-1 (Srinagar–Sonmarg–Gumri Road) in Jammu & Kashmir.

The project is on ‘design, build, finance, operate and transfer (annuity)’ basis with concession period of 22 years and is scheduled to be completed in seven years. “This project has strategic and socio-economic importance. It will provide all-weather connectivity between J&K and Leh-Ladakh,” said Virendra Mhaiskar, chairman and managing director, IRB Infrastructure.

IRB Infra will receive annuity of Rs 981 crore from the ministry twice in a year. This will commence after the completion of the construction of the project till the end of the concession period. With this project, IRB’s order book size has swelled to Rs 16,430 crore.

The four projects awarded to Punj Lloyd fall under the National Highways Development Project Phase-IV to widen major highways in India to a higher standard.
Punj Lloyd said in a statement that the Bihar project worth Rs 567 crore entails four-laning of 60 km of the Simaria-Khagaria section of NH-31. It was the developer for 140 km of the Khagaria-Purnea section on the same highway.

The Chhattisgarh package, worth Rs 513 crore, comprises the four-/six-laning of 48 km of the Raipur-Simga section of NH-200 in Chhattisgarh.

“This section of NH-200 is the major power hub of India connecting the state capital, Raipur to Bilaspur through various industrial and commercial establishments,” the company said in a statement.

In Odisha, Punj Lloyd would be involved in rehabilitation and upgradation of four-laning with paved shoulders of 50 km of the Talebani to Sambalpur section of NH-6 in Odisha. The contract is worth Rs 392 crore.

The fourth contract in Punjab awarded by NHAI is to Punj Lloyd’s joint venture with VRC Constructions and involves four-laning of 35 km of the Tallewal-Barnala section of NH-71.

“Year 2016 will be exciting and will unfold multiple opportunities for Punj Lloyd in the infrastructure segment, both in India and abroad. These orders, won pan-India, are a strong attestation of Punj Lloyd’s delivery in infrastructure,” said Shantanu Karkun, president and chief executive (buildings & infrastructure), Punj Lloyd.

With these four contracts, the group's order backlog stands at Rs 21,838 crore. The order backlog is the value of unexecuted orders on September 30, plus new orders received after that date.

PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

• The scope of the Zoji La pass tunnel project includes constructing approaches on NH-1 (Srinagar–Sonmarg–Gumri Road) on ‘design, build, finance, operate and transfer (annuity)’ basis
   
• The project also involves construction of tunnel, spanning length of 14.08 km, and approach road of 10.8 km, with three vertical ventilation shafts, snow gallery of 700 m and avalanche measures