The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will go for retendering shortly the proposed construction of the six-lane Kozhikode bypass stretching from Vengalam to Idimuzhikkal following the cancellation of the ₹1,710-crore project contracted to a Hyderabad-based company in April, 2018.
Official sources said that the retendering process would be initiated before the three-tier local body polls so that the new firm could be finalised to start work early next year. The whole process would take at least six months.
However, National Highways Authorities of India (NHAI) sources said cost escalation would have to be made in the new provisions of the contract and approved by the Ministry.
The contract for Kozhikode bypass widening project had been signed between the Ministry and Krishna Mohan Construction Private Limited on April 18, 2018. All these months, the proposed multicrore project to expand the 28.8-km Kozhikode bypass had been going through a rough patch with the company failing to secure bank guarantee of ₹85.50 crore for almost a year.
The construction work should have begun in September 2018 and completed around April-May this year. Multiple extensions given to the company to secure bank guarantee failed to yield any results.
Later, with the support of the State government, INKEL Ltd. (formally Infrastructure Kerala Limited), a public-private partnership company, decided to step in to partner the project. However, the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 further delayed the decision on the joint venture.
And finally, the NHAI decided to cancel the contract. Incidentally, it also did not consider the tenders of other firms that bid for the project. Four companies, including the Vadakara-based Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), had bid for the project, sources said.
The expansion of the bypass was envisaged under the National Highway Development Project Phase III. Thus the government will share 40% of the cost to start the work while the contractor would have to make the remaining investment.
The proposal includes the construction of four major bridges, a minor bridge, seven flyovers, two vehicle underpasses, 17 pedestrian underpasses, 64 pipe culverts and 39 box culverts.
