Date:21/11/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/11/21/stories/2005112102711300.htm

Back NHAI signs concession pact for Ambala-Chandigarh four-laning highway

Our Bureau

New Delhi , Nov. 20

THE National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed a concession agreement for four-laning the Ambala-Chandigarh section of NH - 21 and 22. The cost of construction is Rs 298 crore.

The agreement was signed by NHAI with GMR Ambala Chandigarh Expressway Private Ltd.

The four-laning of the about 36 km long, high-traffic density corridor of Ambala-Chandigarh section on build, operate, transfer basis is expected to be completed in 30 months at a cost of Rs 298 crore, said an official statement.

The agreement involves the highest negative grant so far received by NHAI under NHDP-Phase IIIA. The concessionaire would pay NHAI a grant of Rs 105.86 crore during a concession period of 20 years.

The Ambala-Chandigarh Section is two-laned but on completion, this stretch would be a 4-laned road with paved shoulders. In addition, it would have nearly 21 km of service roads on either side in the following towns and villages through which the 4-lane highway would pass - Dhulkot, Sultanpur, Lalru, Dappar, Sakhpur, Madhopur and Sadopur.

Under NHDP-Phase III A, fifteen projects worth Rs 4,520 crore covering a length of 929 km have been awarded so far.

Loan pact for NH 28: The Government and the World Bank today signed a loan agreement of $620 million to upgrade the National Highway 28 stretch between Lucknow and Muzaffarpur in Bihar on the East-West National Highway Corridor, according to a World Bank statement.

The loan agreement was signed by Mr Madhusudan Prasad, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs; Mr Nirmal Jit Singh, Member (Technical), National Highways Authority of India and Mr Michael F. Carter, Country Director-India, World Bank. The project is the fourth World Bank loan to support the Government's National Highway Development Project.