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Foreign Firms Line up for National Highway Contracts
 
By Shalini Singh
Times News Network
May 17, 2003

NEW DELHI: About 16 large overseas builders are jostling for a piece of the Rs 12,000 crore-worth of contracts to build and improve 3,003 km of national highways. About 23 short-listed BoT projects to four-lane national highways have attracted 115-odd bids, many from Malaysia and Singapore.

The overseas bidders include IJM Bhd, Gamuda Bhd, Meinhardt, Tiong Seng Bhd, GMR, Dutcell, Hohup Bhd, United Engineers Bhd, Dhaya Maju Bhd, Maitas Bhd, RBM Bhd, SNC Bhd, Ose Bhd, HCM Bhd, RBH Bhd and Delomite.

The local list includes IL&FS (13 bids), Srei (7), Gammon (5), Gyatri Construction (7), HCC (5), L&T (5), Ircon (3), Unitech (2), IDFC (2), DS Construction (2), Punj Lloyd (2), Nagarjuna Construction (2), and Essar, Adani and Som Dutt with one bid each.

The renewed interest may be attributed not just to the value of the contracts Rs 9,009-12,012 crore but also to a more sensible bidding process that allows companies to pitch for entire projects, from feasibility studies to construction, operation and maintenance. Earlier, tenders for each aspect of a project were awarded separately, resulting in poor bidder turnouts.

The last date for submission of applications for empanelment was April 18, with a 15-day extension. The shortlisted candidates are likely to be announced tomorrow.

These 3,003-odd km of projects form part of the 10,000 km national highways that the ministry of road transport & highways (MORT&H) is taking up to four-lane over the next 4-5 years.

They are not included in the 13,000 km of national highways that classify as NHDP projects. The base construction cost for most of the sections for the four-laning of the 3,000 km which is to be awarded in this fiscal is Rs 3-4 crore per km, while the contract length is likely to be 50-100 km.

The work includes rehabilitating and upgrading the existing 2-lane section to a 4-lane divided carriageway, rehabilitating existing pavements, construction of major and minor bridges, culverts, road intersections, interchanges and drains.

Private players are permitted to bid either as single entities or by forming consortiums. The number of members in a consortium would, however, be restricted to four. An individual player will be entitled to participate in more than one consortium, whereas each applicant will be permitted to submit only one application.

The 23 identified BoT projects include a 69-km stretch on the Jalandhar-Amritsar section at a project cost of Rs 207-276 crore, 74 km on Indore-Khalghat (Rs 222-296 crore), 100 km on Vadape-Gonde (Rs 300-400 crore), 60 km on Nashik-Pimpalgaon (Rs 180-240 crore), 240 km on Gwalior-Devas (Rs 720-960 crore), 115 km on Dhule-Pimpalgaon (Rs 345-460 crore), 450 km on Saraipalli-Nagpur (Rs 1,350-1,800 crore), 100 km on Nagpur-Dhule (Rs 300-400 crore), 240 km on Pune-Sholapur (Rs 720-960 crore), 220 km on Agra-Jaipur (Rs 660-880 crore), 100 km on Sholapur-Hospet (Rs 300-400 crore), 50 km on Manglore-Udupi (Rs 150-200 crore), 50 km on Mormugaon-Mapusa (Rs 150-200 crore), 73 km on Chandigarh-Kiratpur (Rs 219-292 crore), 58 km on Ambala-Kalka (Rs 174-232 crore), 110 km on Kalka-Shimla (Rs 330-440 crore), 125 km on Hapur-Rampur (Rs 375-500 crore), 290 km on Milak-Lucknow (Rs 870-1160 crore), 100 km on Barhi-Ranchi (Rs 300-400 crore), 60 km on Guwahati-Shillong (Rs 180-240 crore), 60 km on Sherthalai-Allepey (Rs 180-240 crore), 220 km on Meerut-Dehradun (Rs 660-880 crore) and 39 km on the Patna-Muzaffarpur stretch (Rs 117-156 crore).

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