HCC awarded Rs 1,750 crore contract by IRCON

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has been awarded a prestigious contract worth Rs 1,749.59 crore by IRCON International to construct two tunnels and a bridge on Katra-Banihal Section of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla New BG Railway Line Project. The project will be completed in 30 months. The contract involves construction of two main tunnels (T13 and part of T14) totaling 12.8 km along with parallel safety tunnels, a 200 m bridge adjoining these two tunnels and a station yard at Basindadhar. This is the fourth order HCC has been awarded by IRCON International. The first order was to construct a 11 km long Pir Panjal Railway tunnel, the longest transportation tunnel in India, which has been successfully commissioned. The other two orders include construction of 10.2 km long T48 tunnel between Sumber and Sangaldan stations and 5.1 km long tunnel T49A, which are currently under construction. Commenting on the order, Arun Karambelkar, President & CEO, HCC, said, “HCC is pioneer in tunnelling works with over 300 km of tunnels constructed so far by various methodologies and in some of the most challenging geologies in the world. Besides, the company is currently engaged in tunnelling works of over 280 km across various sectors. Repeat orders from IRCON reflect our expertise in executing complex projects under challenging conditions.” IRCON International, an autonomous constructing agency for the Indian Railways, was entrusted with the task to construct of Baramulla to Dharam section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link. The railway line from Baramulla to Quazigund (119 km) was operational for public since October 2009. The Pir Panjal tunnel constructed between Quazigund and Banihal was inaugurated in July 2013, extending the train service till Banihal.