Rs. 200 crore Highway projects sanctioned

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has finalised contracts for five road projects. These projects are for up grading the existing highway at the estimated cost of Rs. 200 crore. The projects are for four laning of Jalandhar bypass on NH1 in Punjab and the Nagpur Adilabad section of NH 1 in Punjab and the Nagpur Adilabad section of NH 7 in Maharashtra, six-laning of a portion of Hyderabad-Bangalore section of NH 7 in Karnataka, four-laning of Hatipalli-Hosur section of NH 7 in Tamil Nadu and construction of four-lane rail overbridge of Karur bypass on NH 7 in Tamil Nadu.
The New Delhi based Birla GTME has been awarded the Jalandhar bypass project, the Oriental Structural Engineers Ltd., New Delhi, has bagged the Maharashtra project and Bhageeratha Engineering Co. Ltd of Kochi has bagged the Karnataka project while Patel Engineering Co Ltd has been selected for the Hathipalli-Hosur project. The joint venture of Pt Sumber Mitra Jaya of Indonesia and Punj Lloyd Ltd of New Delhi has been awarded the rail overbridge of Karur bypass. The NHAI received 58 tenders for the five packages, the officials said. The tender conditions provide for bonus if the projects are completed before the scheduled time.
A separate “dispute review expert” will be appointed to sort out expeditiously and dispute between the contractor and the employer.
The works on the projects will be supervised by the respective state public works departments on behalf of NHAI with the assistance of consultants appointed by the highway authority. The consultants will be mainly responsible for maintaining quality of construction.
The two corridors were integrated into the four-laning of golden quadrangle” comprising national highways connecting the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta will be taken up separately, the officials said. Feasibility studies for four-laning of the quadrangle are already on, the sources added.