10 Bidders for Kharagpur – Vizag Expressway’s DPR Consultant Contract

10 firms have submitted bids to prepare two Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for the construction of Kharagpur – Cuttack – Visakhapatnam (Vizag) Expressway after Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India (MoRTH) opened technical bids on Tuesday.

This approximately 783 km long 4-6 lane greenfield access-controlled highway will have an alignment somewhat parallel to national highway NH-16 through the states of West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

MoRTH had invited tenders to appoint this expressway’s consultant in June 2024 with a 1.5 year deadline via 2 packages:

• Package 1: Kharagpur – Chandikhol – Cuttack – Khorda – Tangi (390 km)
• Package 2: Tangi – Brahampur – Visakhapatnam (393 km)

MoRTH received a total of 18 bids – 10 for Package 1 and 8 for Package 2.

Bidders

• Aarvee Associates Architects Engineers and Consultants Pvt Ltd. – Package 1 Only
• AICONS Engineering Pvt. Ltd.
• Chaitanya Projects Consultancy Private Ltd. – Package 1 Only
• Consulting Engineers Group Ltd.
• Egis India Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd.
• LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd.
• Lion Engineering Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
• L N Malviya Infra Projects Pvt. Ltd.
• SA Infrastructure Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
• Theme Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd.

MoRTH’s Brief Scope – Package 1: Consultancy services for preparation of Detailed Project Report for construction of 4/6 laned high speed corridor / expressway between Kharagpur – Chandikhol – Cuttack – Khorda – Tangi section of Kharagpur – Cuttack – Visakhapatnam Corridor

MoRTH’s Brief Scope – Package 2: Consultancy services for preparation of Detailed Project Report for construction of 4/6 laned high speed corridor / expressway between Tangi – Brahampur – Visakhapatnam section of Kharagpur – Cuttack – Visakhapatnam Corridor

The bids have now been sent for technical bid evaluation which can take a couple months to complete. When that is done, the financial bids of the technically qualified bidders will be opened to reveal who’s the lowest bidder and most likely consultant for each package.

If contracts are awarded in the first half of 2025, then we can expect the DPR to be finalized by 2026-end. The DPRs will then go through the motions of approval, land acquisition and other clearances – so at this time I see construction work starting no sooner than 2028.

Once operational, Kharagpur – Vizag Expressway is expected to reduce the travel time between both cities to about 8 hours from the current 14 hour journey. Back in August, I created a basic information page for it where I’ll be posting updates. Check it out here: Kharagpur – Vizag Expressway – Information & Status

This expressway (Packages 1 & 2) is part of a series of 5 new expressways (or “High Speed Corridors” as MoRTH now calls them) proposed for construction in India. Here’s a summary of all – click on the package number to see their bidder list (to be updated as I post):

• Kharagpur – Cuttack – Visakhapatnam Expressway (Packages 1 & 2)
• Jamnagar – Bhavnagar – Bharuch Expressway (Packages 3 & 4)
• Gwalior – Jhansi – Sagar – Lakhnadon Expressway (Packages 5 & 6)
• Bangalore – Mangalore Expressway (Package 7)
• Gangtok – Siliguri Expressway (Package 8)

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? Get early-access to updates and support the site over here.

– TMRG