Decks cleared for Rs 2,462-crore Ludhiana-Bathinda expressway

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, June 3

Decks have been cleared for another major highway and expressway project in Ludhiana district, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has confirmed.

The land acquisition for the Ludhiana-Bathinda expressway, which involves the total capital cost of Rs 2,461.64 crore, including Rs 906.51 crore for the first component and Rs 1,555.13 crore for the second part, has been completed, officials have said.

Project Report

Rs 2,461.64 cr Total cost

75.543-km Total length

Lanes: 6 ROW: 60m

Current status: Work allotted, land acquisition completed

Total land requirement: 525.19 hectares

Deadline: Package 1: August 31, 2025, Package 2: June 30, 2025

Owner: NHAI

Model: HAM

The development assumes significance as it took over 18 months since the award of the greenfield highway to make the land available for the construction of the NHAI project.

Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana, Sanjeev Arora, told The Tribune, here on Saturday that a total of 323.52 hectares of land, which was required to build the 45.24-km stretch of the expressway in the jurisdiction of Ludhiana district, has been acquired and handed over to the NHAI.

Arora, who reviewed the progress of the project, disclosed that the total award amount of Rs 544.36 crore had been deposited and disbursed to landowners.

Officials told to ensure early completion

''I have instructed the NHAI officials concerned to begin the construction of the highway and ensure the completion at the earliest, as per specifications and quality control measures. It will give a major reprieve to inter-state and inter-city travellers.” – Sanjeev Arora, Rs MP

He said the construction work on the first package of the project would begin by August 31 to be completed by August 31, 2025, while the second component’s construction work would take off by June 30 to be finished by June 30, 2025.

The 45.24-km stretch in Ludhiana district entails the civil cost of Rs 981 crore and land acquisition expenditure of Rs 544.36 crore, taking the total capital cost to Rs 1,555.13 crore.

While the Package 1 of the 30.3-km-long greenfield expressway to build six-lane access controlled highway will start from the junction with the Amritsar-Bathinda greenfield road (NH-754A) near Rampura Phul to the junction with the Moga-Barnala road (NH-703) near Tallewal village on the NH-754-AD falling in Bathinda, Moga and Barnala districts, the Package 2 comprising 45.24-km stretch will take off from the junction with the Moga-Barnala road (NH-703) near Tallewal village to the junction with the Delhi-Katra expressway (NE-5) near Ballowal village in Ludhiana on the NH-754-AD.

The six-lane access-controlled highway will connect Ballowal village on the Delhi-Amritsar expressway with Rampura Phul on the Amritsar-Bathinda expressway.

Once constructed, the drive from Ludhiana to Bathinda will become smoother and faster as the project entails six-laning of the 75.543-km-long national highway 754-AD at the cost of Rs 1,716.17 crore.

The part of the Ludhiana-Ajmer economic corridor (EC-8) was scheduled to be completed within 24 months under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, Phase I.

The widening and strengthening of the highway had been taken up by the NHAI in two parts under the hybrid annuity model (HAM) mode.

The first component of the NH-754-AD will comprise 30.3-km while the second part will run into a 45.243-km stretch.

The total civil cost of the project has been estimated at 1,639 crore, including Rs 658 crore for the first part and Rs 981 crore for the second component, while Rs 754.71 crore was earmarked for the land acquisition, which included Rs 210.35 crore for Package 1 and Rs 544.36 crore for Package 2.

The total capital cost of the expressway was estimated at Rs 2,461.64 crore, including Rs 906.51 crore, for the first component and Rs 1,555.13 crore for the second part.

The new Ludhiana-Bathinda expressway will pass through 36 villages falling in three districts of Ludhiana under Ludhiana and Raikot tehsils, Barnala under Barnala and Tapa tehsils, and Rampura Phul tehsil in Bathinda district.