After a delay of more than eight years, work on Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway (KMPE), which is part of the Western Peripheral Expressway project designed to decongest Delhi’s traffic by forming a ring road around the Capital, may get moving.
The Haryana Government on Tuesday gave its nod to construction of 83.320 km six-laned Kundli-Manesar Section of 136-km long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway Project spanning five districts.
The clearance was given by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Infrastructure under the chairmanship of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar, said an official release.
Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway (KMPE) project, which was originally allotted to concessionaire KMP Expressway limited, on January 31, 2006, was supposed to be completely functional by 2009 but the concessionaire failed to complete work even upto December 2014.
The Centre sprung into action after a rap from the Supreme Court earlier this year, which ordered the Centre to get the project moving within three months.
Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari met with Manohar lal, who promised to expedite work on the project. The Apex Court in its order also directed the State Government to award the contract for the project to new Concessionaire urgently.
Managing Director of Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) Vineet Garg informed the Cabinet Sub Committee that the project involves the construction of a six-lane expressway instead of the earlier proposed four-lane road.
“The estimated total cost of the project as per the calculation of Net Present Value of the lowest bid would come to a sum of `1,680 crore, which is less than the Estimated Project Cost of `1,863 crore,” said Garg.
“The project will take about two years to complete,” he said.
The Financial Consultants of the Project Almondz described the project details involving the annuity period of 17 years, including, the construction period of 2.5 years. The period for obtaining financial closure has been prescribed as six months and the likely date of completion of construction will be August 2018.