65% land for Ludhiana-Bathinda expressway still awaited

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, July 26

The wait is getting longer for the construction of the Ludhiana-Bathinda expressway as almost 65 per cent of the total land required for the 75.543-km major infrastructure development project is still awaited, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has confirmed.

Despite the claims made by the state government, the land acquisition for the NHAI project, 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 not yet been completed, officials have said.

The development assumes significance as it has been over 19 months since the award of the greenfield highway contract but the complete land has not yet been made available for the construction of the major highway project so far.

NHAI Project Director Ashok Rolaniya told The Tribune, here, on Wednesday that land to build only 26.72 km of the total 75.543-km stretch of the greenfield highway project has so far been made available while the physical possession of land to construct the remaining 48.823-km portion was still awaited.

He said the expressway was divided into two parts — 30.3 km under Package 1 and 45.243 km under Package 2.

While physical possession of land to build a 21.82-km stretch has been made available under Package 1, only 4.9-km land has so far been possessed for the second package.

A total of 323.52 hectares of land was required to build the 45.243-km stretch of the expressway in the jurisdiction of Ludhiana district, for which the total award amount of Rs 544.36 crore had been deposited and disbursed to landowners. However, the farmers were resisting the physical possession of the acquired land, seeking more money.

According to the plan, the construction work on the first package of the project was scheduled to begin by August 31 and was targeted to be completed by August 31, 2025, while the second component’s construction work was scheduled to take off by June 30 to be finished by June 30, 2025. But, the non-availability of land has been delaying the start of the construction work.

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

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 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.

PROJECT REPORT

Rs 2,461.64 cr Total cost

75.543-km Total length

Lanes: 6

ROW: 60m

Deadline

Package 1: August 31, 2025,

Package 2: June 30, 2025

Owner: NHAI Model: HAM

Current status: Work allotted, physical possession of acquired land pending

Total land requirement: 525.19 hectares

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