NEW DELHI: Paving the way for construction of country’s longest ever under-river tunnel, an inter-ministerial panel has recommended for approval of the project across river Brahmaputra in Assam costing around Rs 14,900 crore. While the road transport ministry will fund 80% of the project cost, the defence ministry will bear the remaining 20%.
The 15.6 km long twin-tube, unidirectional underwater tunnel having four lanes will connect Gohpur and Numaligarh in Assam will reduce travel time from six-and-half hours to just 30 minutes, shortening the distance from 240 km to 34 km. This will enhance connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and other northeastern states. The Public Investment Board (PIB) headed by expenditure secretary has recommended the project, including the approach roads, which would soon be placed before the Cabinet.
Interestingly, initially there was a proposal to have three parallel tunnels -- one for road, another for rail and the other for emergency use -- at an estimated cost of around Rs 7,000 crore. The tunnel is expected to be completed in five years after the award of the project.
TOI has learnt that while the PIB has green-signalled the strategic infrastructure project in Assam, it has sent back the proposal to build two tunnels — Singhpora-Vailoo and Sudhmahadev-Dranga — on the Anantnag-Chenani corridor in Jammu and Kashmir to the road transport ministry, citing multiple reasons. Besides the high proposed expenditure of around Rs 8,900 crore involved and that there being an existing road connecting the origin and destination in respect of each of the two packages, the panel also recorded that these did not fall under strategic roads of the defence ministry.
Officials from the National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) under the road transport ministry made such a claim in the March 22 meeting. A senior ministry official confirmed this development and said they will look into the issues flagged by the board.
The PIB also recorded that the agency did not provide traffic details on the existing and proposed road between the origin and destination. Sources said the inter-ministerial panel, which appraises all public-funded projects before these are placed before the Cabinet for approval, also took note that there was “no evidence of direct benefit out of the two projects”.
It noted that there is a good quality alternative road.
Since the finance ministry directed the road transport ministry not to approve any fresh project under Bharatmala, all highway works costing beyond Rs 1,000 crore need to go to the Cabinet for approval after appraisal by the PIB and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Appraisal Committee in case of fully public-funded and PPP projects, respectively.
“The recent development and observation of PIB has shown how there may be many cases where projects not deserving to be taken up might have been cleared under Bharatmala. If this project had been bid out, these facts wouldn't have come out,” said a source.
The 15.6 km long twin-tube, unidirectional underwater tunnel having four lanes will connect Gohpur and Numaligarh in Assam will reduce travel time from six-and-half hours to just 30 minutes, shortening the distance from 240 km to 34 km. This will enhance connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and other northeastern states. The Public Investment Board (PIB) headed by expenditure secretary has recommended the project, including the approach roads, which would soon be placed before the Cabinet.
Interestingly, initially there was a proposal to have three parallel tunnels -- one for road, another for rail and the other for emergency use -- at an estimated cost of around Rs 7,000 crore. The tunnel is expected to be completed in five years after the award of the project.
TOI has learnt that while the PIB has green-signalled the strategic infrastructure project in Assam, it has sent back the proposal to build two tunnels — Singhpora-Vailoo and Sudhmahadev-Dranga — on the Anantnag-Chenani corridor in Jammu and Kashmir to the road transport ministry, citing multiple reasons. Besides the high proposed expenditure of around Rs 8,900 crore involved and that there being an existing road connecting the origin and destination in respect of each of the two packages, the panel also recorded that these did not fall under strategic roads of the defence ministry.
Officials from the National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) under the road transport ministry made such a claim in the March 22 meeting. A senior ministry official confirmed this development and said they will look into the issues flagged by the board.
The PIB also recorded that the agency did not provide traffic details on the existing and proposed road between the origin and destination. Sources said the inter-ministerial panel, which appraises all public-funded projects before these are placed before the Cabinet for approval, also took note that there was “no evidence of direct benefit out of the two projects”.
It noted that there is a good quality alternative road.
Since the finance ministry directed the road transport ministry not to approve any fresh project under Bharatmala, all highway works costing beyond Rs 1,000 crore need to go to the Cabinet for approval after appraisal by the PIB and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Appraisal Committee in case of fully public-funded and PPP projects, respectively.
“The recent development and observation of PIB has shown how there may be many cases where projects not deserving to be taken up might have been cleared under Bharatmala. If this project had been bid out, these facts wouldn't have come out,” said a source.
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