Mumbai firm IRB Infrastructure bags record Zoji La tunnel deal for 10,050 crore

MUMBAI: India has awarded its largest-ever road transport project worth Rs 10,050 crore to build the Zoji La tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir to Mumbai-headquartered IRB Infrastructure. The company will build the 14.08-km tunnel - the longest in South-East Asia - in seven years.

The tunnel will be built at an altitude of 3,528 metres and will be crucial for providing year-long connectivity between Srinagar and Leh as the National Highway that connects these two places remains shut for half the year due to snow.

Nitin Gadkari, the minister for Road Transport and Highways, had earlier said that the government is keen that work on this project starts soon, given its strategic nature for the state's transport.
"We have received the letter of award for the project and hope to finish the preparatory work soon so that construction can start by October 2016. The project will take seven years to complete as we will have only six months a year to work," Virendra Mhaiskar, chairman and chief executive officer of IRB Infrastructure, told ET.

The highway connecting Srinagar and Ladakh is typically shut early for winters and opens late due to heavy snowfall, cutting off Ladakh from the rest of the world, making life difficult for locals in winter months.

The tunnel has been a long standing demand for people of the region and has been an election issue as well for the past few decades in the state. While the UPA-II government announced the construction of the project in October 2012, it didn't really take off. The BJP-led government revived the project, and despite delays in bidding, has finally awarded it.

IRB Infrastructure bagged the order after competitive bidding. The agreement entails a concession period of 22 years, which includes seven years for construction. IRB Infrastructure would get a semi-annual annuity of Rs 981 crore from the ministry, beginning the completion of construction of the project.