Bihar ropes in its own agency to build Ganga Expressway

The Bihar government, after it failed to rope in private investors for the Ganga Expressway project along the banks of Ganga river in Patna on the lines of Mumbai’s Marine Drive, has now given the contract to its own State agency, Bihar Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav has said. The State Government will issue tender for the Expressway by next March-April.

The Minister said that the Bihar government is committed to the mega Expressway project and the State agency itself will construct it. Yadav said the government had initiated the process to change its mode of construction.

Earlier it was to be constructed in public-private-partnership mode. In August last year, the State government had approved the much-awaited 21.5-km long Deedarganj to Digha Ghat Ganga Expressway project. The government also cleared the decks to acquire over 200 hectares for the project. The estimated cost of the project would be Rs 2,234.46 crore and is likely to be completed within four years.

In the first phase, the driveway will connect Digha and Didarganj, a stretch of 21 km and in the second phase, it will go to Fatuha, a distance of 18 km. About seven km will be elevated.

A road construction department official said the Government agency, Bihar State Road Construction Corporation, was asked to complete the paper work related to its construction.