National Highways Authority of India
on 7 July 2006 launched Phase V of the National Highways Development
Project (NHDP) with the signing of an agreement to six-lane the Bharuch-Surat
Section of NH-8, the first project under this phase.
NHAI signed a concession Agreement
with a consortium of four firms led by M/s. IDAA Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., to
widen from four-lane to six-lane, the 65 km-long Bharuch-Surat section in
Gujarat on Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis. The following are details.
Section:
Bharuch-Surat Section (NH-8)
State:
Gujarat
Project:
NHDP-V
Length:
65 km (km 198 to km 263) on NH-8
Execution:
BOT model
Concessionaire:
IDAA Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (four-member consortium)
Cost:
Rs.492
Completion:
30 months
Concession
period: 15 years, including construction time
Grant:
Rs.504 crore (Negative, payable upfront TO NHAI)
Project
profile: Click here.
The
members of the consortium are Ideal Road Builders, DVJ Leasing & Finance,
Aryan Toll Road Pvt Ltd and ATR Infrastructure.
The agreement is significant
considering that this project involves the highest-ever negative grant for any
highway project in the country. Prior to this agreement, the highest negative
grant received by NHAI was Rs.105.86 crore paid by GMR, for widening and
maintaining a section of the Ambala-Chandigarh highway. IDAA Infrastructure Pvt.
Ltd. would be shortly paying NHAI Rs.504 crore upfront for conceding the
project.
What is NHDP-V?
Under Phase V of NHDP, about 6,500
km of National Highways including the Golden Quadrilateral would be widened from
4 to 6-lanes at a cost of Rs.41,210 crore. This would include development of
corridors/sections with high density of traffic which are otherwise important
for tourism or economic reasons.