Construction of six-lane Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata expressway is set to commence in January 2023, as the work order will be allotted by next month.
Earlier, this month, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had floated global tenders to build 54-km initial stretch, starting from Varanasi.
This includes 27-km stretch between Varanasi Ring Road and Chandauli-Chainpur road in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar at a cost of Rs 988.24 crore.
Another tender involves 27-km stretch from Chandauli-Chainpur Road to junction with Bhabhua-Adhaura Road in Bihar at a cost of Rs 945.24 crore.
Both the packages are to be built on Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM), which requires the construction company to design, build, operate and then transfer the asset to the NHAI for toll collection.
The NHAI has scheduled to select the qualified construction firm and allot the work order in last week of December this year .
Passing Though Four States
The 610-km-long greenfield expressway has been planned under Bharatmala Pariyojna (BMP) Phase-2 to provide high-speed connectivity to the northern and eastern regions of the country.
Starting at the junction of NH19 and Varanasi Ring Road, the access-controlled expressway passes through Bihar and Jharkhand, before terminating at NH16 near Uluberia in Howrah district in West Bengal.
About 159-km stretch of the expressway will pass through Bihar via Kaimur, Rohtas, Aurangabad and Gaya.
The road will enter Jharkhand via Chatra district and make an exit from Bokaro via Hazaribagh and Ramgarh to West Bengal’s Purulia district, after covering a distance of about 187 km.
From Purulia it will reach Kolkata connecting Bankura, West Medinipur, Hooghly and Howrah in West Bengal.
32-Km Stretch In Bihar
Of the total 54-km being built in Phase-I, 32 km of the expressway is in Bihar and will run from Khainti village junction of Chaundauli-Chainpur road to Palka village on Bhabhua-Adhaura Road in Kaimur district.
Land acquisition for the 32-km stretch is going on at full pace and will be completed before the commencement of work.
The expressway, once completed, will ensure hassle free travel from Patna to Varanasi via Mohania and from Patna to Ranchi via Gaya.
It would also ease the burden on the existing NH-2 (Golden Quadrilateral Road), which is heavily loaded and not in good shape.