Tenders for Shimla ropeway project to be floated after Diwali

Tenders for the ambitious Shimla passenger ropeway project will be floated anytime after Diwali, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said at a press conference in Shimla on Thursday. He said New Development Bank, the funding agency for the project, had given permission to advance tender, which would be floated soon.

The Deputy CM said the DPR of the project had been completed and the work was likely to start in March. It would go a long way in decongesting Shimla and promoting tourism, he stated.

Agnihotri said some people were trying to take credit for the project, even though it was the current government that had prepared the DPR. The state government was working seriously on constructing ropeways in the state, he said.

The Baglamukhi ropeway in Mandi would be inaugurated on November 5, he said, adding that the possibility of constructing a ropeway from Parwanoo to Shimla was also being explored.

He also said the government would urge the Centre to fund the Bilaspur-Beri portion of the Bhanupali- Bilaspur-Beri railway line. "We will soon meet the minister and urge him to declare it a defence project and bear the entire cost," he stated.