Fighting Land Acquisition Woes, Ludhiana-Ropar Expressway 9 Per Cent Complete

The work on Ludhiana-Ropar Expressway has picked up pace after much delay in the past, with 9 per cent work completed on the first package of the project.

The development assumes significance as the stiff resistance by the farmers to part with their land coming under the entire expressway has delayed the acquisition proceedings for the major infrastructure development project.

"The non-availability of land required for the project was causing hurdles in the ongoing construction work. Even as the NHAI had awarded the work and the construction agencies had begun the work with the minimum possible land availability, the repeated interventions at the level of the Chief Secretary had not been able to complete the land acquisition proceedings so far," a report in Tribune said.

The four to six-lane Ludhiana-Rupnagar Highway (NH-205K) starts from junction with Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway (NE-5) near Manewal village in Ludhiana and terminates on NH-205 near Bheora village in Rupnagar (Ropar).

The 116-km access-controlled greenfield project includes a 19.5-km spur from Pipalmajra to Kharar with Ludhiana bypass, and is being developed under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase 1.

Three Packages

Being built at an estimated cost of Rs 2,857.14 crore under the hybrid annuity model (HAM) mode, the work for the expressway has been divided into three packages.

With Rs 951 crore civil cost, the work for 37.7 km Package 1 was awarded in September 2021 to G R InfraProjects.

Similarly, Ircon International Limited (IRCON) has been awarded the work of construction of the Package 3 of the project with a civil cost of Rs 1,123.43 crore. The 43.26 km long Package-3 also includes the 19.5-km spur to Kharar.

Further, the work for 47.24 km Package 2 has been awarded to Ceigall India Ltd in December 2021 for a bid cost of Rs 1,035 crore.

Under the HAM mode, 40 per cent of the project cost is to be provided by the government as construction support during the construction period and the balance 60 per cent is given as annuity payments over the operations period along with interest thereon to the concessionaire.

Land Acquisition Delay

The NHAI has taken possession of 30.7-km of the total 37.7-km land required for the Package-1 while the process to complete the acquisition proceedings for the remaining 7-km stretch under Package-1 is still on.

Similarly, the the possession of just 1.25-km land had been taken under the Package 2 comprising the 47.24-km stretch.

The NHAI is still waiting for the remaining land to be acquired, so that the much awaited project could be completed before December 2024.