Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL) has finally terminated the contracts of two construction companies for poor performance in road works on national highways. They were engaged in the four-laning of the Jhanji to Demow stretch of the NH 37 in Upper Assam. Earlier, they were served intention-to-terminate notices for the slow progress in works related to the four-laning of the NH.
NHIDCL had awarded the work to Kamac Engineering and Shiva Harlalka (Joint Venture) after the tender process in July 2022. As per the contract award, the original date for completion was March 2024, but the performance of the contractors engaged to upgrade this stretch of the highway was considered ‘poor’.
As of March 31, 2024, the cumulative progress in work execution was only 35.56%. Due to their lethargic speed of progress in the execution of the works, their contracts with NHIDCL have been terminated.
The total length of the Jhanji to Demow stretch of the NH 37 (Old) is 44.08 km. The total project cost for the upgrade of this stretch to a four-lane one was Rs 1369.02 crore.
Before the termination of the contracts, tenders were floated by NHIDCL for the balance work from Jhanji to Demow in advance.
The New Delhi headquarters of NHIDCL have now divided the remaining work into four packages. Package 1 comprises 11 km of road length, and the tender value has been kept at Rs 66.09 crore. Package 2 comprises a total length of 13 km, with a total bid value of Rs 77.56 crore. The bid value for Package 3, comprising a length of 20 km, is calculated at Rs 52.48 crore. Moreover, Package 4 consists of the construction of a toll plaza with a bid value of Rs 21.35 crore. The tenders are at the evaluation stage.
According to NHIDCL sources, if everything goes according to plan, the balance work will be awarded to the bid winners next month.
Also Read: Assam: NHIDCL set to terminate contract of another firm for work delay (sentinelassam.com)
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