NEW DELHI: After a gap of almost three years, the NHAI has bid out a highway project that will be built with full private investment and zero funding from the government. The Rs 5,279 crore Guwahati Ring Road project, which includes a three-km bridge on the Brahmaputra, was bid out last week to a highway developer who will recover the investment from toll collection.
The government, in its Economic Survey, has put more thrust on public private partnership (PPP) and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech had spoken about each ministry preparing a list of projects to be taken up on the PPP mode. At present, maximum projects on PPP mode are in the highways sector. It was in March 2023 last when the NHAI had bid out two projects in Maharashtra on the build, operate and toll (BOT) mode.
An NHAI official said the project was bid out to Dinesh Chandra R Agrawal Infracon for a quoted grant of “Rs 0 (Rupees Zero)” on BOT mode, meaning the entire cost of construction would be borne by the firm. He added that with nearly 98% land available and all clearances in place, the project is expected to be completed in the stipulated four years.
The Assam government will bear 50% of land cost and has also given exemption from royalty on aggregates and state portion of GST.
The 121-km Guwahati Ring Road is one of the eight major highway projects that the cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi had approved on Aug 2, entailing an investment of around Rs 50,655 crore.
The ring road will help decongest Guwahati city and neighboring northeastern states as it will bypass major traffic coming from West Bengal and Bihar, and going to Silchar, Nagaland and Tripura. The project is divided into three sections – 56 km between Baihata and Sonapur, which will be a four-lane access-controlled greenfield section; widening of the existing eight-km long four-lane bypass to six-lane; and improvement of the existing 58-km bypass on NH 27.