Messrs IRB Infrastructure Developers ltd has bagged a Rs10,050 crore order to construct, operate and maintain the Zozila Pass Tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir.
Announcing that his company had received a letter of Award from Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORT&H) for the Zozila Pass Tunnel project, Chairman and Managing Director of IRB Infrastructure Virendra Mhaiskar said: “We are happy to get the project and we are confident that our work force will meet the challenges of the Himalayan terrain and build the tunnel well in time”.
Billed as the biggest National Highway Project awarded in India in terms of project cost, the project involves the construction of a tunnel length spanning 14.08 kms and costing Rs10,050 crores. It will include approaches on NH-1 (Srinagar - Sonmarg - Gumri Road) in the State of Jammu & Kashmir on Design, Build, Finance, Operate & Transfer (Annuity) basis.
This project has a strategic and socio-economic importance as it will provide a much needed all-weather connectivity between Jammu & Kashmir and leh-ladakh regions, which remain cut off during the winter, owing to the heavy snowfall.
Apart from the construction a tunnel of the length of 14.08 km, the project involves construction of an approach road of 10.8 km with three Vertical Ventilation Shafts, Snow Gallery of 700 meters and Avalanche Protection measures etc.
The MORT&H has set a deadline of seven years for completion of the project. “The concession period for the project is 22 years. IRB Infra will receive Semi-Annual Annuity of Rs981 crore from MORT&H commencing after completion of construction of the project which would be received twice in a year till the end of the concession period,” Mhaiskar said.