UP to raise Rs 7,000 crore from banks for 296-km Bundelkhand Expressway

State government to issue letters of comfort undertaking to repay the banks in case of any default

The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to raise Rs 7,000 crore from a consortium of banks for the Bundelkhand Expressway project, estimated to cost Rs 9,921 crore, including a land cost of Rs 2,202 crore.

The consortium would be led by public-sector lender Bank of Baroda (BoB), UP power minister and state government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma said.

The loan would be raised by state nodal agency for the project UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). “The state government has decided to issue a letter of comfort undertaking to repay the banks on behalf of UPEIDA in case of any default,” he informed.

The decision was taken at the state cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Adityanath. The project would be entirely funded by the state without any financial aid from the Centre, Sharma added.

On November 11, the state government had cleared the decks for two mega expressway projects totalling more than Rs 14,500 crore, including Bundelkhand Expressway and Gorakhpur Link Expressway. The two projects are likely to create 60,000 new job opportunities in these regions.

Meanwhile, 91 km Gorakhpur Link Expressway is touted to cost Rs 4,587 crore, including land cost of Rs 1,564 crore.

In its last meeting, the government had approved the award of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to their financial bidders, who had been selected by the bid evaluation committee last month.

While, the two projects are estimated to be completed in 36 months each, the concessionaries would be paid 5% incentive of the contracted amount, if they complete the project in 30 months.

The mega Bundelkhand and Gorakhpur Link expressways have been divided into 6 and 2 packages respectively for their speedier completion.

For Bundelkhand Expressway, the cabinet had cleared the proposal to award different packages to selected bidder namely, Apco Infratech, Ashoka Buildcon, Gawar Construction and Dilip Buildcon.

So far, UPEIDA has acquired 96% of the required 3,641 hectares for Bundelkhand Expressway, which would cut across Jhansi, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah districts, and touch Agra-Lucknow Expressway at Etawah. The government has already released Rs 2,157 crore towards land acquisition. The Gorakhpur Link Expressway project spans Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh districts. More than 54% of the required land has been acquired for the project. While, UP has already released Rs 940 crore towards land acquisition, Rs 2,275 crore would be mopped up in bank loans.