Nine Bidders In Fray To Build 182 Km Nagpur To Chandrapur Expressway

A total of 9 bidders, including Afcons, Gawar Construction and NCC Ltd. are in fray to construct the 182 km Nagpur-Chandrapur expressway project.

These firms have submitted a total of 22 bids for six packages of the project, as reported by the Metrorail Guy. The bids were unveiled last week, and the final selection of bidders for each section will be determined following technical assessments and financial scrutiny.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC)  had invited tenders for the project through six civil packages on EPC mode in February 2024 with a 2.5-year construction deadline.

Beginning at Seldoh village on the Samruddhi Mahamarg in the north, the expressway extends southward, including an 11.969 km spur to Chandrapur city, and ends at Ghatkul village in Chandrapur District.

Chandrapur city is known as ‘India’s Black Gold City’ and is in the Vidarbha region, the coal-rich belt of Maharashtra. It is also one of the most polluted cities in India. The city is an industrial area, home to cement, explosives, paper, and textile factories, in addition to mines.

Designed with a 100-metre right-of-way (ROW) and a speed limit of 120 km h, the Nagpur-Chandrapur Expressway aims to slash the travel duration between the two cities by half, reducing it from four hours to approximately two hours.

The Nagpur- Chandrapur Expressway, has been envisaged as a connector to the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg, promising to significantly shorten commuting time between the easternmost districts of the state and the financial hub of Mumbai, opening up new opportunities.

Additionally, the agency has initiated the bidding process to engage contractors for the construction of two more access-controlled super communication expressways: Nagpur-Gondia and Bhandara-Gadchiroli.