NKC, PNC & GRIL Win Varanasi – Kolkata Expressway’s Contracts

That was quick! NKC Projects, PNC Infratech & G R Infraprojects on Thursday were declared as the lowest bidders for the civil construction work of 610.417 km Varanasi – Ranchi – Kolkata Expressway‘s packages 1, 2, 3 and 7.

This 6 lane greenfield expressway by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will be built under Bharatmala Pariyojna (BMP) program at an estimated cost of Rs. 28,500 crore.

Its alignment will run parallel to National Highway NH-19 (old NH-2) and link Varanasi Ring Road in Uttar Pradesh’s Barhuli village to NH-16 near Uluberia in West Bengal’s Howrah District via Bihar and Jharkhand.

NHAI had began inviting tenders (bids) for construction contracts under Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) in November 2022 with 2 year deadlines. Technical bids were opened on March 3 to reveal 15 firms had submitted bids for packages 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Below I’ve shown only the lowest 5 bidders’ values for each package.

Package 1 – UP/Bihar (27 km)

Scope: Junction with NH-19 and Varanasi Ring Road near Rewasa village to junction with Chandauli-Cainpur road near Khainti village (Km.0.000 – Km.27.000)

Estimated Cost: Rs. 868.91 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
NKC Projects Pvt. Ltd.	994.03
PNC Infratech Ltd.	1057.00
KCC Buildcon Pvt. Ltd.	1091.31
M G Contractors	1121.00
APCO Infratech Pvt Ltd.	1129.00

Package 2 – Bihar (27 km)

Scope: Junction with Chandauli-Chainpur Road near Khainti village to junction with Bhabhua-Adhaura road near Palka village (Km.27.000 – Km.54.000)

Estimated Cost: Rs. 795.05 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
PNC Infratech Ltd.	891.00
G R Infraprojects Ltd.	1027.37
KCC Buildcon Pvt. Ltd.	1049.31
Dilip Buildcon Ltd.	1068.00
IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd.	1098.00

Package 3 – Bihar (36 km)

Scope: Junction with Bhabhua-Adhaura road in Bhairopur village to Konki village (Km.54.000 – Km.90.000)

Estimated Cost: Rs. 985.01 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
PNC Infratech Ltd.	1113.43
KCC Buildcon Pvt. Ltd.	1249.31
G R Infraprojects Ltd.	1330.27
APCO Infratech Pvt Ltd.	1350.00
Ceigall India Ltd.	1350.00

Package 7 – Bihar (33.2 km)

Scope: Anarbansalea village to Sagrampur village (Km. 151.200 to Km. 184.700)

Estimated Cost: Rs. 1015.99 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
G R Infraprojects Ltd.	1248.37
Montecarlo Ltd.	1269.00
IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd.	1359.00

The lowest bids in each case were around 15% higher than NHAI’s estimate, so these packages will head to the negotiation table for contract finalization.

With this development, financial bids for 4 packages (1, 2, 3, 7) have been opened to reveal their likely contractors, another 4 packages (6, 8, 9, 10) are going through technical bid evaluation, while bidding is underway for 4 packages (5, 11, 12 & 13).

A complete list of Varanasi – Kolkata Expressway’s packages, their scope and contractor status can be viewed here.

For more updates, check out the Expressway section or my Home Page! Sign up for free instant email notifications on new posts over here. Like this post? See how you can support the site over here.

– TMRG