L&T, Afcons in fray to develop Rs 5,877 cr Gorakhpur Link Expressway

Leading infra companies Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Afcons Infrastructure are among 13 firms vying for the development of the Rs 5,877-crore Gorakhpur Link Expressway project. The Expressway will directly link Gorakhpur, the home turf of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, with the under-construction Purvanchal Expressway.

Oriental Structural Engineering, Apco Infratech, PNC Infratech, Dilip Buildcon, NCC, and Ashoka Buildcon are among the other companies that have submitted technical bids.

A flagship project of the Adityanath government, the 91 km-long Gorakhpur Link Expressway will be developed in two different packages, for which the nodal agency, UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), has received a total of 21 bids from 13 companies.

According to UPEIDA, the financial bids for the project would soon be opened. Earlier, the Authority had planned to complete the entire bidding process by September-end itself. The Expressway would cut through Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh districts. Of the total project cost of Rs 5,877 crore, around Rs 3,000 crore is expected to be spent on civil works alone.

Recently, the state had also completed technical bidding for another mega infrastructure project, Bundelkhand Expressway, estimated to cost Rs 14,850 crore. It will link the arid zone with mainland UP for ushering in faster socioeconomic development.

For Bundelkhand Expressway, 18 bidders including L&T, Megha Engineering, KNR (JV), GR Infra Projects, Afcons Infrastructure, Apco Infratech, HG Infra Project, JMC Projects India, PNC Infratech, Dilip Buildcon, Ashoka Buildcon etc had submitted technical bids. It is propsosed to be completed in 6 packages.

For 296 km Bundelkhand Expressway, Rs 7,000 crore would be raised through bank loans and remaining funds would be provided by the government. Bank of Baroda (BoB) had already agreed to give Rs 2,000 crore loan for 296 km for the project.

So far, the state had acquired 90% of the required 3,641 hectares for Bundelkhand Expressway, which would traverse Jhansi, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah districts, and touch Agra-Lucknow Expressway at Etawah.

Earlier, BoB had provided Rs 2,000 crore loan for Purvanchal Expressway, which is projected to be completed by August 2020. The state had also tied up with Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Corporation Bank for loans totalling Rs 8,800 crore for bank rolling 340 km Purvanchal Expressway.

Meanwhile, the Adityanath government has already proposed the 600 km Ganga Expressway, touted as the world’s longest access infra project when completed. Ganga Expressway, estimated to cost Rs 36,000 crore, would link Prayagraj (Allahabad) with Western UP and require acquisition of 6,556 hectares of land and traverse 12 districts viz. Meerut, Amroha, Bulandshahar, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratagarh and Prayagraj.