Centre tells Haryana govt to expedite KMP Expressway project

The Expressway was scheduled to be completed by July 2009, but in the past five years, the project has missed many deadlines

The work on much delayed 135 Km long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, an ambitious project of the Haryana government to ease traffic on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway might be expedited as the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has asked the Haryana government to resume the work within a period of 2 months failing which the Ministry is ready to get the balance work executed through National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

Since its inception in January 2006, the KMP Expressway project executed by DS Construction Ltd has missed many deadlines. The work on the 135.6km road has proceeded at a snail's pace, according to an official report, the physical progress of the project is around 70 per cent.

"The KMP expressway was supposed to be completed in three years time i.e. by 2009. But in past it has missed many deadlines and the fate is still unknown, so taking cognizance we have asked the Haryana government to resume the work within a period of 2 months failing which the Ministry is ready to get the balance work executed through NHAI," said Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping while talking to Business Standard in Chandigarh.

He added, "It is estimated that till date an amount of Rs 1200 crore has been incurred on the project and a balance Rs 1500 crore is yet to be spent. We have asked the Haryana government to settle the things with concessionaire. We have offered the state government that the project cost which has already been spent will be given to state government and the remaining amount would be spent by Ministry on the completion of the project."

The original cost of the project was Rs 1,915 crore but the project cost has escalated because of the significant change of scope of work on the project.

According to insiders, the expressway has been riddled with problems from the very start. It was scheduled to be completed by July 2009, but in the past five years, the project has missed many deadlines. In past, the project also earned the ire of the state agency - Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure Development (HSIIDC) and Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who slammed the concessionaire for the slow pace of the work.