Work order for the Ennore Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP) will be issued by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) before the end of next month, said Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan here on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters after officials of the Chennai Port Trust and Ennore Port Limited handed over cheques for Rs.19 crore and Rs.5 crore for EMRIP to NHAI officials, Mr. Vasan said the Chennai Port Trust had contributed Rs.48 crore already and Ennore Port, Rs.8 crore.
There were 13 participants in the bidding for the EMRIP work, of which eight qualified.
Technical evaluation of the eight bidders is on and the project is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2013. The actual contribution for the project by the Chennai Port Trust is Rs.238 crore. So far, the Chennai Port Trust had given Rs.67 crore. As for Ennore Port, its contribution was Rs.34.2 crore and so far it had given Rs.13 crore.
On the Maduravoyal Expressway, Mr. Vasan said the total cost of the project was Rs.1,655 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had given its nod for the project. Originally, the cost for land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation was estimated to be Rs.310 crore but now it had escalated to Rs.470 crore.
To reduce the congestion on the Ennore Expressway, the Chennai Port Trust had taken over a 11.2-acre plot belonging to Tiruvottiyur municipality. Owing to some reasons it could not be continued.
Now, the port trust had leased the land from the municipality for a period of 30 years. It would pay monthly rent of Rs.11 lakh to the municipality.
On the occasion, Mr. Vasan launched an online complaint registering facility of the Chennai Port Trust and released a publication on ‘Chennai – A Convenient Cruise Destination.'
