Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the national highways and infrastructure development corporation has started the re-bidding process for construction of the 14-km-long Zojila tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh highway after the government of India scrapped an earlier contract awarded to the crisis-hit infrastructure leasing and financial services (IL&FS).
The national highways authority of India (NHAI)— which is undertaking the project—has begun the process of hiring a new executing agency for construction of Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel. The NHAI has engaged the NIHDCL, a fully-owned subsidiary of the union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), for the bidding process of the tunnel, whose construction was announced by Prime Minister Modi in 2018.
The project was earlier awarded to IL&FS which later allegedly turned bankrupt.
“After scrapping the earlier contract, all efforts are being put in place to redo the process of hiring an executing agency for the project,” said a senior NHAI official, wishing not to be named as he wasn’t authorised to speak to media.
The re-bidding process has been accelerated as it would be a “shame” to brief the PM that no work has been done on the project he announced a year back, he said.
The official said the government of India has given an ultimatum to finalise the award of the contract before the announcement of general elections in the country because the BJP had earlier used the construction of the tunnel as its poll plank to woo voters in the Ladakh region.
The project was originally sanctioned during the tenure of Congress-led UPA-II.
Once the tunnel is constructed, the road would provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh and, at 14.2 kms, it will also be the country’s longest road tunnel.
The tunnel would cut down the time taken to cross the Zojila Pass from 3.5 hours to 15 minutes.
It will also be Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel and will be built at a cost of Rs 6,809 crore. It is expected to be completed in five years.
The Zojila Pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578 ft on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highways and remains closed during winters due to heavy snowfall, cutting off Ladakh from Kashmir for nearly six months.
After terminating the contract for Rs 6,809 crore Zojila tunnel (14.2 km) project, the NHIDCL has asked its bank to encash Rs 122 crore guarantee that the IL&FS had submitted. The IL&FS had not started any major work after the foundation stone for the project was laid on May 19 last year.