Kundli Manesar Palwal Expressway

cancelled

In 2005, Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) awarded the development of a 135 km access controlled Kundli Manesar Palwal Expressway Project to KMP Expressways Limited (KMPEL) on a build-own-transfer (BOT) basis. The project involved construction of a new four to six lane high speed link/road that connected four of most industrial centers of Haryana State and intersected four of India’s busiest national highways (NH) – NH 1 near Kundli (Sonipat), NH-10 at Bahadurgarh, NH-8 at Manesar (Gurgaon) and NH-2 near Palwal (Faridabad). The project also included five flyovers, four railway overbridges, 16 overpasses and underpasses, 62 pedestrian crossing passages, 31 cattle crossing, 18 major and minor bridges, ten toll plazas, two truck parking bays and four bus bays. KMPEL was expected to own and operate the expressway for 23 years and nine months, including the construction period of 3 years. The BOT agreement between HSIIDC and KMPEL was signed in Jan 2006. This project illustrates Haryana government’s continued commitment to encourage private investments for establishing world class infrastructure. The new expressway was expected to not only improve Haryana’s connectivity with the National Capital Region, but also facilitate the development of a new economic corridor for India. It was expected to provide high-speed connectivity to Northern Haryana with its Southern Districts such as Sonepat, Jhajjar, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Additionally, this expressway was expected to facilitate the flow of traffic from West and South India towards Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. KMPEL, a special purpose vehicle established to implement this project, was a joint venture between India’s DS Constructions Limited (67%) and UK based Apollo Enterprises Limited (33%). The DS- Apollo consortium won the project in an international competitive tender, conducted by HSIIDC, based on the technical and financial soundness of the bid. Four other firms participated in the tender namely - Larsen & Toubro Ltd, IL&FS, Gammon India, and the Malaysia-based IJM Corporation. There was no positive or negative grant in the project - neither the Haryana Government gave any money to KMPEL for constructing the road, nor did it receive any money from KMPEL for letting it collect the tolls. HSIIDC acquired more than 3,000 acres of land for the project and transferred it to KMPEL. The total capital cost of the project was estimated at US$ 422.6 milion. The project reached financial closure in December 2006. KMPEL raised a debt of US$ 254 million from a consortium of 12 banks and financial institutions led by IDBI. KMPEL was to be compensated for the capital and operating costs from the tolls collected during the commercial operation period of about 20 years. Construction works on the project began in July 2006, with commercial operations scheduled for June 2009. The project was terminated by the government in March 2015 and revived the same year later by launching another tender.