Nagpur – Chandrapur Expressway: GRIL, GCL, HGIEL & BSCPL Win Contracts

Four civil engineering firms on Tuesday were declared as the lowest bidders to construct 6 packages of the 182 km Nagpur – Chandrapur Expressway project on EPC mode.

The winners list includes GR Infraprojects Ltd. (GRIL) Gawar Construction Ltd. (GCL), H.G. Infra Engineering Ltd. (HGIEL) and BSCPL Infrastructure Ltd.

Nagpur – Chandrapur Expressway in eastern Maharashtra will be developed as a 4 lane access-controlled highway on EPC mode by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

It will have its northern terminal at Seldoh village on the 701 km Mumbai – Nagpur Expressway (Samruddhi Mahamarg or ME-2). On the south-south it will include a 11.969 km spur to Chandrapur city, and eventually terminate at village Ghatkul.

The expressway with a 100 meter right-of-way (ROW) has been designed with a 120 kmph speed limit. It will be constructed via 6 packages: NC-01, NC-02, NC-03, NC-04, NC-05 and NC-06.

MSRDC had applied for Environmental Clearance in October 2023 and invited bids for civil construction in February 2024 with a 2.5 year construction deadline. Bids were opened in early May to reveal 9 firms had submitted a total of 22 bids.

Financial Bid Values

Here are the financial bid values for each package. Gawar and HG Infra Engineering won 2 packages each, while GR Infraprojects and BSCPL won 1 package each.

Package NC-01

• Length: 33.30 km
• Chainage: km 0+000 Seldoh Tq. Seloo to km 33+300 Lonhar Tq. Samudrapur Dist. Wardha (Length: 33.300 km)
• Estimated Cost: Rs. 1877.28 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
GR Infra	2349.07
NCC	2420
Afcons	2453
Montecarlo	2503

Package NC-02

• Length: 29.85 km
• Chainage: km 33+300 Lonhar Tq. Samudrapur Dist. Wardha to km 63+150 Borgaon Deshmukh Tq. Warora Dist. Chandrapur (Length: 29.850 km)
• Estimated Cost: Rs. 1507.98 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
Gawar	1923
BSCPL	1960
Montecarlo	1995
Afcons	2041

Package NC-03

• Length: 39.219 Km
• Chainage: km 63+150 Borgaon Deshmukh Tq. Warora to km 90+400 Chargaon Tq. Bhadravati (Length-27.250 km) with Chandrapur connector from km 0+000 Pandhar Kawada on MSH-6 to km 11+969 Datala Tq. Dist. Chandrapur (Length-11.969 km) (Total Length: 39.219 km)
• Estimated Cost: Rs. 1510.56 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
Gawar	1812.06
HG Infra	1851.11
PNC Infratech	1882
BSCPL	1916

Package NC-04

• Length: 28.20 km
• Chainage: km 90+400 Chargaon Tq. Bhadravati to km 118+600 Nandgaon Kh Tq. Korpana Dist. Chandrapur (Length: 28.200 km)
• Estimated Cost: Rs. 1554.45 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
HG Infra	1991.11
PNC Infra	2053
Gawar	2104

Package NC-05

• Length: 31.75 km
• Chainage: km 118+600 Nandgaon Kh. Tq. Korpana to km 150+350 Jogapur Tq. Ballarpur Dist. Chandrapur (Length: 31.750 km)
• Estimated Cost: Rs. 1654.92 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
HG Infra	2151.11
Gawar	2227
Patel Infra	2277

Package NC-06

• Length: 32.045 km
• Chainage: km 150+350 Jogapur Tq. Ballarpur to km 182+395 Ghatkul Tq. Gondpimpari Dist. Chandrapur (Length: 32.045 km)
• Estimated Cost: Rs. 1571.31 crore

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
BSCPL	2083.05
Patel Infra	2131
Gawar	2157
HG Infra	2181.11

The lowest bid for each package’s construction was significantly higher than MSRDC’s estimate, so we’ve reached a deadlock which can take months to resolve. For instance – in Package NC-01, GR Infra’s bid was 25.15% higher than MSRDC’s estimate. Similarly in Package NC-02, Gawar’s bid was 27.60% higher.

It’s the same story for all other packages. There just isn’t any room for negotiations without altering scope or quality. It remains to be seen if MSRDC will bite the bullet (by revising their budget) and award contracts to get work started OR will scrap the entire process and re-invite bids.

Nagpur – Chandrapur Expressway is expected to reduce the travel time between both cities to about 2 hours from the current 3-4 hour journey. Maharashtra’s government plans to develop an impressive 5000 km expressway network in the state, and Nagpur – Chandrapur Expressway is displayed by number 11 below:

MSRDC on Tuesday also opened bids for 5 other expressway projects – and things don’t look too bright for them either. Check out each link below for a list of winners:

• 136.80 km Pune Ring Road
• 126 km Virar – Alibaug Multi-Modal Corridor (VAMMC) around Mumbai
• 179.85 km Jalna – Nanded Expressway
• 127 km Nagpur – Gondia Expressway
• 156 km Bhandara – Gachiroli Expressway’s Package BG-01

For more updates, check out the Expressway section or my Home Page! Sign up for free instant email notifications on new posts over here. Get early-access to updates and support the site over here.

– TMRG