UP to open financial bids for expressways worth Rs 20,000 cr this month

Top firms including L&T, Afcons Infra have submitted bids to develop the expressways

Uttar Pradesh government has lined up 2 mega expressway projects totalling more than Rs 20,700 crore for award to the private concessionaries by the end of this month.

While, the technical bids for the 2 projects, Bundelkhand Expressway and Gorakhpur Link Expressway were opened last month, the financial bids will be opened after Diwali due on October 27. Both the projects are estimated to cost Rs 14,850 crore and Rs 5,877 crore respectively.  

“The financial bids will be opened after Diwali and the contract would be formally awarded to the selected companies after the state cabinet clears the proposal,” UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) CEO Awanish Kumar Awasthi, who is also the state additional chief secretary (home), told Business Standard here today.

Top infra firms, including Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Afcons Infrastructure, Megha Engineering, Apco Infratech, PNC Infratech, Ashoka Buildcon, NCC etc are in the fray to build two expressways, which are aimed at accelerating the socio-economic development in the hinterland.

So far, UPEIDA has acquired more than 90 per cent of the required 3,641 hectares for the 296 km Bundelkhand Expressway, which cuts across Jhansi, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah districts, and touch Agra-Lucknow Expressway at Etawah.

Similarly, Gorakhpur Link Expressway would traverse Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh districts. Of the total project cost of Rs 5,877 crore, the civil work alone is expected to cost Rs 3,000 crore.

Currently, 9 big projects are under various stages of development across UP under UPEIDA viz. Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway, Ganga Expressway, Ballia Link Expressway, Defence Manufacturing Corridor, Semi High-speed Rail Corridor and electric charging stations.

The state government is funding these projects with a mix of equity and debt by providing budgetary allocations apart from sourcing funds from banks as long term loans.

For example, the Yogi Adityanath government knocked the door of Bank of Baroda(BoB) to raise nearly Rs 7,000 crore for Bundelkhand Expressway. The public sector lender agreed to advance Rs 2,000 crore for the infra project.

The BoB has also provided Rs 2,000 crore loan for 340 km Purvanchal Expressway, which is likely to be completed by August 2020. Further, the state has tied up with Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Corporation Bank for additional loans totalling Rs 8,800 crore for the project.

Meanwhile, 600 km Ganga Expressway, which is touted as the world’s longest access controlled expressway project once completed, is estimated to cost nearly Rs 36,000 crore.

It would link Prayagraj (Allahabad) with Western UP and require acquisition of 6,556 hectares of land and run across 12 districts, including Meerut, Amroha, Bulandshahar, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratagarh and Prayagraj. The state government is already in the process of roping in a consultant for the mega expressway project.