Punj Lloyd lands Indian road widening

Indian contractor Punj Lloyd has won the INR 542 crore (US$ 84 million) contract to expand a 41 km stretch of India’s National Highway 28 (NH-28) in Bihar State. The client for the project is the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The scheme involves widening the road from a single lane to two lanes in each direction (four laning) of the stretch between Gorakhpur and Gopalganj in Bihar. It will also see the four-laning of part of the highway connecting Lucknow and Muzaffarpur.

The project is designed to reduce congestion and travel times between Gorakhpur, Gopalganj and Patna as well as improve connectivity to the Valmiki Wildlife sanctuary on India’s border with Nepal.

The road runs through a part of north western Bihar which is prone to flooding, and a because of this the highway will be elevated to 1 m above the high flood level.

Commenting on the contract win, Punj Lloyd managing director & CEO P Chalasani said, “Punj Lloyd has executed several prestigious projects for NHAI in the past including portions of the Golden Quadrilateral and North‐South and East‐West Corridor. We are proud to have played a role in creating infrastructure that connects the rural interiors of the country.

"NHAI’s aggressive plans to continuously upgrade and strengthen National Highways have resulted in opening up of opportunities for local employment and also in the upliftment of the rural economy. Our knowledge and experience in the highway sector has helped us deliver challenging projects in the India in the past.”

The project is scheduled to be completed in 24 months from the date of award.