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JP Associates bag Ganga Expressway Project

LUCKNOW: Infrastructure giants Jaiprakash Associates have bagged the prestigious Rs.40,000-crore Ganga Expressway project, beating a consortium led by Anil Ambani’s Reliance Energy, Unitech India and others.

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet at its meeting here on Thursday approved the name of JP Associates as the developers for the 1,047-km expressway, which would link Noida to Ballia, passing through 19 districts along the banks of the Ganga, State’s Industrial Development Commissioner Atul Kumar Gupta told reporters.

Earlier, an empowered committee headed by State Chief Secretary P. K. Mishra had recommended the proposal of JP Associates for the project, he said.

The price proposals of five companies -- Gammon India, Unitech India, Zoom Developers Consortium, Reliance Energy consortium and JP Associates -- which had made bids for the project were referred to the empowered committee after a scrutiny by the bid evaluation committee, Mr. Gupta said.

According to Mr. Gupta, JP Associates had sought the “lowest development rights” and hence were awarded the project.

He said JP had sought 30,000 acres of land valued at Rs. 293 crore, which is the minimum.

The 1,047 km expressway, which promises to reduce travel time from Ballia to Noida to about ten hours, is aimed at developing regions in the State by opening up ten major economic and development zones of 4-5 thousand acres each alongside the way.

Mr. Gupta said the whole project was divided into four parts and bids were invited for each of them separately as well combining them all.

Mr. Gupta said that the State Government had not received any “formal objection” from the NHAI on the expressway project. He said the social impact of the project was under study, but rejected an assertion that it would cause floods.PTI

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