Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor: RVNL To Build 4.7 Km Twin Tunnel In Aravallis As Part Of Project

The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) has bagged a Rs 1,088 crore composite order to construct a 4.7 km tunnel, as part of the 121.74 km Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor (HORC) project.

The contract was awarded by the Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (HRIDC) Limited.

The scope of the contract includes construction of twin tunnels through the Aravallis, between kilometre-24.880 to kilometre-29.580, near Sohna’s Roz-Ka-Meo Industrial Area using the new austrian tunneling method and cut and cover method in four years.

HRIDC which is the implementing agency for the project had invited global tenders for the construction of C-4 package on engineering, procurement and construction basis in November 2022 with an undisclosed estimate.

A total of six bidders, including Gawar Construction, Dilip Buildcon, ITD Cementation India, APCO Infratech, and two state-run PSUs — IRCON International and RVNL, were in fray to build the tunnels.

Additional work in the contract includes design and installation of ballast-less track (excluding supply of rails), commissioning of general electrical services and civil work related to minor bridges.

About The Tunnel

The tunnel proposed lies in the Delhi Ridge.

Delhi ridge constitutes the northernmost extension of the Aravalli range in the form of two ridges — Sohna ridge in Haryana, nearly 45 km from Delhi, and west of it is Harachandpur ridge also known as Delhi ridge, which is famous for its environmental importance to this region.

The total tunnel length is 4.7 km, out of which 1.1 km of tunnel will be within the rock mass and 2.9 km will run through soil and remaining 0.7 km will be cut-cover type structure.

Decongesting NCR

HORC is a new electrified double broad-gauge rail line connecting Harsana Kalan (Sonipat) and Asaoti (Palwal) in Haryana through 17 stations along the Western Peripheral Expressway or Kundli–Manesar–Palwal Expressway (KMP Expressway).

The Orbital Rail Corridor is a crucial infrastructure project to decongest existing Indian Railway network in the National Capital Region (NCR) area.

The project will decongest Delhi by diverting passenger and freight traffic not originated or destined for Delhi.

The foundation stone of the project was laid on 27 October 2022 by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and is expected to be ready by FY 2025-26.

Three Contracts Awarded

HRIDC has so far awarded three civil contracts including the tunnel.

The contract to construct the 5.9 km C-1 priority (Manesar-Patli station) section of the project was awarded to KCC Buildcon in May 2022 which won the project with a bid of Rs 158.16 crore.

In May 2023, PNC Infratech Limited signed contract agreement to construct the 25.92 km package C-23 of the HORC project, with a timeline of 30 months.