NHAI to reopen bidding for UP Gate to Dasna stretch of e-way - Hindustan Times
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NHAI to reopen bidding for UP Gate to Dasna stretch of e-way

Hindustan Times | By, Ghaziabad
May 28, 2016 01:13 AM IST

The National Highways Authority of India said a rebid is necessary for work on the UP Gate-Dasna section of Delhi-Meerut Expressway. The announcement comes two days after General (retd) VK Singh, Ghaziabad MP, said that the work of widening NH-24 will start by July.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said a rebid is necessary for work on the UP Gate-Dasna section of Delhi-Meerut Expressway. The announcement comes two days after General (retd) VK Singh, Ghaziabad MP, said that the work of widening NH-24 will start by July.

Work on the 19.2-km stretch of the expressway includes shifting of electricity lines and water pipelines.(Sakib Ali/HT Photo)
Work on the 19.2-km stretch of the expressway includes shifting of electricity lines and water pipelines.(Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Officials said that a rebid is necessary as they had received only one bid for the project.

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A cabinet committee of economic affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, on May 12 cleared Rs 1,998 crore for the 19.2-km stretch of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. The bids were opened on May 20 and a single bid was received on the same day.

“There was only a single bid received on May 20. So, we will have to hold a rebid for the section. The normal time frame for inviting the bid is 45 days but we have decided to reduce the time to 30 days. This will expedite the process,” Raghav Chandra, chairman of NHAI, during his inspection of the site here, said.

This would mean that once the contract is awarded under hybrid annuity mode, a maximum of five months is allowed to the concessionaire, after signing of the concession agreement, to start work at ground level.

The 19.2-km section is a challenging project for NHAI as it involves shifting of major utility electricity lines and Ganga water supply pipelines coming from Upper Ganga Canal to the water plant at Pratap Vihar in Ghaziabad.

However, despite the late bids and clearances for the sections, the NHAI chairman has assured that the entire DME project would be completed by March 2018.

A 22.2-km section, from Dasna to Hapur, is already awarded to a concessionaire. The section in Delhi, from Sarai Kalen Khan to UP Gate, has also been awarded. Officials said work on the Dasna-Hapur stretch will start by August.

For the fourth 6-lane 46-km Greenfield alignment from Dasna to Meerut (bypass), the officials are finalising land compensation and distribution.

“Nearly 80% of the land has been acquired and disbursement of land compensation is already in progress. Out of a total cost of `607 crore, nearly Rs 296 crore has been disbursed. There are several arbitration cases pending that are yet to be decided. Farmers are not giving possession for want of increase in land compensation amount,” an official said.

Development of the fourth section requires nearly 464 hectares, including a majority 409 hecatres from private parties. This stretch requires land from 19 villages in Ghaziabad and another 14 in Meerut districts.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Peeyush Khandelwal writes on a range of issues in western Uttar Pradesh – from crime, to development authorities and from infrastructure to transport. Based in Ghaziabad, he has been a journalist for almost a decade.

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