Union cabinet okays Rs 2,070-cr Chandigarh-Ludhiana highway project

54-km stretch of Kharar to Ludhiana section of NH-95 will be widened to six lanes and the remaining 22 km will be broadened to four lanes

The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved a Rs 2,070-crore highway project to ensure faster movement of traffic between Chandigarh and Ludhiana.

The project being implemented under the Centre’s hybrid annuity mode will see six/four-laning of Kharar to Ludhiana section of NH-95.(HT File Photo, for representative purpose)

The project being implemented under the Centre’s hybrid annuity mode will see six/four-laning of Kharar to Ludhiana section of national highway-95, said road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari after the cabinet meeting. The highway at present has only two lanes.

“The 76-km highway stretch will be constructed at a cost of Rs 2,069.7 crore, and land required for it is 383.22 hectare, majority of which has been acquired and remaining 145 hectare will be acquired soon,” he said.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 30 months, the minister said, adding that 54-km stretch will be widened to six lanes and the remaining 22 km will be broadened to four lanes.

The ministry had in 2006 approved the Chandigarh-Ludhiana section of NH-21 and NH-95 through public-private-partnership (PPP) on build, operate, transfer (BOT) basis under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) phase 5.

The project was later reconstructed in two parts -- Chandigarh-Kharar and Kharar-Ludhiana -- due to non-viability. The Chandigarh-Kharar section has already been awarded on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode. Under the project, two major and one minor bridges are proposed besides a 7.9-km bypass at Samrala.

Under the hybrid annuity mode, the government provides 40% of the cost to the developer while the remaining 60% has to be borne by concessionaires.