NHAI floats tender for ₹5,200-cr Kanpur-Lucknow e-way

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has floated tender for the Kanpur-Lucknow expressway to be developed at an investment of ₹5,200 crore on HAM model. It has decided to award the contract to the construction agency which will be able to get a loan of ₹2,500 crore from the banks. This will be the first expressway in UP which will be linked to Lucknow Ring Road to minimize traffic load on the main road.

The NHAI will acquire land from 31 villages of Unnao and 11 villages of Lucknow. Around ₹4,500 crore will be spent on construction and ₹900 crore in land acquisition. The contract will be awarded by opening technical and financial bids and thereafter it will sign MoU and the construction agency, which is expected to start the work in 150 days from the date of signing the MoU, and the project is expected to be completed by 2024. According to the Project Director, NHAI, NN Giri, the agency will have to look after the maintenance work of the expressway.