Varanasi–Kolkata Expressway
Route information
Maintained by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)
Length610 km (380 mi)
Existed2027 (expected)[1]–present
Major junctions
West endVaranasi Ring Road, Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh
East endUluberia, Howrah district, West Bengal
Location
CountryIndia
StatesUttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal
Major citiesVaranasi, Chandauli, Bhabua, Sasaram, Aurangabad, Gaya, Chatra, Hazaribagh, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Bokaro, Purulia, Bankura, Bishnupur, Arambag, Uluberia, Howrah and Kolkata
Highway system

Varanasi–Kolkata Expressway, also known as Varanasi–Ranchi–Kolkata Expressway,[2] is an approved 610 km (380 mi) long, six-lane, greenfield access-controlled expressway, which will connect the spitirual city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh with the capital of West Bengal, Kolkata, through the capital of Jharkhand, Ranchi.[3] It will run almost parallel with the Grand Trunk Road or the Asian Highway 1, and will pass through four states–Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.[4][5] The expressway is a part of Bharatmala Pariyojana, and it will reduce both travel time and distance, from 12-14 hours to only 6-7 hours, and from 690 km (430 mi) to 610 km (380 mi). It will start from Chandauli district in Uttar Pradesh, and will terminate near Uluberia, Howrah district, West Bengal.[3]

History

The Government of India has given special emphasis on infrastructure development in FY2022–23. To improve connectivity, tourism, development and economic growth in Eastern India, the Government of India planned to build a new expressway from Varanasi to Kolkata through Ranchi. The expressway is expected to cut travel time from 12 to 14 hours to 6–7 hours, and from 690 km (430 mi) to 610 km (380 mi). It will pass through four states–Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Once completed, these states will see exponential growth with the growth of industries and socio-economic development by promoting employment among people living in the regions, which the regions currently mostly lack altogether.[6] The expressway was earlier slated to be 8-lane. It will be built at a cost of ₹ 23,500 crore, and will be completed by 2027, which was earlier scheduled in the first quarter of 2026.[7][1]

Route

Lengths
 mi[8]km
UP 13.67 22.00
BR 98.80 159.00
JH 116.20 187.01
WB 150.37 242.00
Total 379.04 610.01

Uttar Pradesh

The western terminus of the expressway will be located in Chandauli district near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The western end of the expressway near Barhuli village will be connected with the National Highway 19 (NH-19) and the Varanasi Ring Road. The expressway will cover a total distance of 22 km (14 mi) within Uttar Pradesh.

Bihar

The expressway will cross the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border and will enter through Kaimur district of Bihar. It will cross the state through the districts of Kaimur, Aurangabad, Rohtas and Gaya. The expressway will cover a total distance of 159 km (99 mi) within Bihar.

Jharkhand

The expressway will cross the Bihar-Jharkhand border and will enter the Bokaro district of Jharkhand. It will cross the state through the districts of Bokaro, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh and Chatra. The expressway will cover a total distance of 187 km (116 mi) within Jharkhand.

West Bengal

The eastern terminus of the expressway will be located at Uluberia, West Bengal. It will cross the state through the districts of Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur, Hooghly and Howrah. The expressway will cover a total distance of 242 km (150 mi) within West Bengal.[8]

Construction

The expressway will be fully six-lane and a greenfield project, and will be built using the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) construction model, which provides and ensures security, liability caps, and a performance guarantee for an infrastructure. For the project, the soil testing work in Jharkhand was conducted in June 2022.[9] It will run almost parallel with the National Highway 19 (NH-19), or the Asian Highway 1 or the Grand Trunk Road.[3] The land acquisition process started in January 2022 on an 80-km section of the expressway, from Tilouthu to Imamganj in Bihar.[10] The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) released tenders and invited bids in November 2022 for the construction of the expressway. As of March 2023, the project has been divided into 13 packages, and the package division for the West Bengal section is still underway. In Package-1, NHAI issued global tenders, and allocated ₹ 988 crore for the construction of the 27 km stretch from Varanasi Ring Road in Uttar Pradesh to Khainti village in Bihar, and in Package-2, ₹ 945 crore has been allocated for the construction of another 27 km stretch from Khainti village to Palka village in Bihar, wherein it will be built using the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) mode of construction.[11] In the West Bengal section, the Government of West Bengal has directed 6 districts of the state to carry out land acquisition for the project, and is underway.[12] Currently, the project is under Detailed Project Report (DPR) preparation and land acquisition. The following table list the project's packages, contractors and their statuses.[13][14]

Uttar Pradesh/Bihar

Packages Chainages[lower-alpha 1] Contractor Status
Package-1 Junction with NH-19 and Varanasi Ring Road near Rewasa village (Chandauli district) to junction with Chandauli-Chainpur road near Khainti village (Kaimur district, Bihar) (0.000 km-27.000 km) NKC Projects Land acquisition underway

Bihar

Packages Chainages Contractor Status
Package-2 Junction with Chandauli-Chainpur Road near Khainti village to junction with Bhabhua-Adhaura road near Palka village, Kaimur district (27.000 km-54.000 km) PNC Infratech Pvt. Ltd. Land acquisition underway
Package-3 Junction with Bhabhua-Adhaura road in Bhairopur village to Konki village (Rohtas district) (54.000 km-90.000 km) PNC Infratech Pvt. Ltd. Land acquisition underway
Package-4 TBA Pending notice Bidding process underway
Package-5 Junction with NH-119 in Malpura village to Lerua village (Aurangabad district), including a 4-lane spur to NH-19 from NH-119 (spur length-6.6 km) (105.300 km to 116.000 km) TBA Bidding process underway
Package-6 Pachmon village to Anarbansalea village, Aurangabad district (116.000 km to 151.200 km) PNC Infratech Pvt. Ltd. Land acquisition underway
Package-7 Anarbansalea village to Sagrampur village (Gaya district) (151.200 km to 184.700 km) GR Infraprojects Land acquisition underway

Jharkhand

Packages Chainages Contractor Status
Package-8 Sonepurbigha village to junction with NH-22 near Chatra, Chatra district (184.700 km to 222.000 km) Tracks and Towers Infratech Pvt. Ltd.–Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (JV) Land acquisition underway
Package-9 Chatra to junction with NH-100 in Deoria village (Hazaribagh district) (222.000 km to 253.000 km) Ram Kripal Singh Construction Pvt. Ltd. Land acquisition underway
Package-10 Deoria village to Donoreshan village (Ramgarh district) (253.000 km to 288.600 km) H.G. Infra Engineering Ltd. Land acquisition underway
Package-11 Donoreshan village to junction with NH-20 in Bongabar village, Ramgarh district (288.600 km to 325.500 km) Ceigall India Land acquisition underway
Package-12 Junction with NH-20 in Bongabar village to Junction with NH-320 in Lepo village (Bokaro district) (325.500 km to 358.500 km) Ceigall India Land acquisition underway
Package-13 Junction with NH-320 in Lepo village to Kamlapur village (Jharkhand-West Bengal border) (358.500 km to 387.200 km) H.G. Infra Engineering Ltd. Land acquisition underway

The remaining stretch till Kolkata is under package division, land acquisition and DPR preparation.[7][12]

Benefits

The expressway will benefit Eastern India along with the entire country as follows:[3]

  • Trade: The expressway will help to boost trade, increase exports and reduce dependency on imports, as it will result in the growth of industries in Eastern India, along the route through which the expressway will pass, especially in the adjoining regions of Kolkata further, and due to its location near the sea with two major ports–Kolkata and Haldia, resulting in a huge benefit for transporting steel and coal to the ports from the famous steel plants and coal mines located in the mineral-rich state of Jharkhand, the Bokaro Steel Plant and coal mines of Dhanbad, thus accelerating economic growth and development in the four states.[15]
  • Tourism: It will help to boost tourism by promoting it in places which currently lack, along its route. The alignment of the expressway has been specially made through the backward areas to help facilitate tourism and development, due to a high presence of small tourist spots, dotted across the four states, especially in Jharkhand and the western part of West Bengal, but remain relatively unknown to most people because of lack of accessibility to those areas.
  • Connectivity: The expressway will create a direct route between Varanasi and Kolkata, by reducing both travel time and distance from 12 to 14 hours to only 6 to 7 hours, and from 690 km to 610 km. It will not only connect Varanasi, but will also connect Kolkata directly with the national capital, as well as Jammu and Kashmir, through a series of expressways, along with this–Purvanchal Expressway, Agra–Lucknow Expressway and Yamuna Expressway to Delhi, and to Jammu and Kashmir via the Delhi–Katra Expressway. In the coming years, instead of Purvanchal and Agra–Lucknow Expressways, the Ganga Expressway will connect Kolkata more faster, as well as with Haridwar. This expressway till Varanasi will also connect Rajasthan via the Chambal Expressway through the Agra–Lucknow Expressway. This series of expressways will result in faster, better and safer commute for both the transport of goods and people, with the rest of the country, from Eastern India.
  • Protection of the Environment: To protect the green cover, plants and trees will be planted between and on both sides along the entire route of the expressway. In the Kaimur district section of Bihar, a 5 km-long tunnel will be built along the hilly region to avoid deforestation.
  • Employment: Due to increase in industrial activities along the expressway's route, various agricultural and industrial initiatives will help in the economy and growth of Eastern India. The establishment of these numerous centres will result in multiple job possibilities for thousands of people living in the four states.

Status updates

  • 2019: The expressway's plan was proposed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).[4]
  • November 2022: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) launched tenders for the project.[4]
  • January 2023: Land acquisition began for the project.[4]
  • March 2023: 15 bidders participated to construct 8 packages of the expressway.[16]
  • March 2023: 11 bidders participated to construct the expressway's Jharkhand to the Jharkhand-West Bengal border section.[17]
  • April 2023: The bidding process has been entirely completed for the Jharkhand section, and land acquisition has started.[18]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Distances from the origin of the expressway, i.e., Varanasi.

References

  1. 1 2 Mishra, Amit (9 December 2022). "NHAI's Ambitious 610-Km Varanasi-Kolkata Expressway To Be Operational By 2027". Swarajya. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "Bharatmala: Optimizing the efficiency of movement" (PDF). static.pib.gov.in. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Khurana, Jasmine (18 February 2023). "Varanasi Kolkata Expressway - Route, Cost, and Current Status". MagicBricks. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Varanasi – Kolkata Expressway – Information & Status". The Metro Rail Guy. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  5. ↑ "Gadkari announces 22 by-passes, 2 greenfield expressways for UP". www.dailypioneer.com. The Pioneer. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "100 meters wide 8-lane Varanasi-Kolkata Expressway will pass through these districts of Jharkhand, know the route". newsbuzz.live. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Varanasi – Kolkata Expressway – Information & Status". The Metro Rail Guy. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Varanasi Ranchi Kolkata Expressway Complete Details of Project". www.indianconstructioninfo.com. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  9. ↑ "Jharkhand: Soil testing for expressway project begins in Chatra". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  10. ↑ "बिहार को एक और एक्‍सप्रेस वे की सौगात, ₹28500 करोड़ की लागत से बनेगी वाराणसी-रांची-कोलकाता हाईस्‍पीड रोड" (in Hindi). Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "NHAI issues tenders for six-lane greenfield Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata Highway". Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  12. 1 2 "কলকাতা-বারাণসী এক্সপ্রেসওয়ের জন্য ৬ জেলাকে দ্রুত জমি অধিগ্রহণের নির্দেশ মুখ্যসচিবের" (in Bengali). Kolkata: www.etvbharat.com. etvbharat. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  13. ↑ "Varanasi – Kolkata Expressway – Information & Status". The Metro Rail Guy. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "15 Bidders for Varanasi – Kolkata Expressway's Construction Work". The Metro Rail Guy. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  15. ↑ Singh, Atul (11 August 2022). "कोयले व लोहे के व्‍यपार को म‍िलेगी रफ्तार... बोकारो के प‍िछड़े व नक्‍सल इलकों की बदलेगी क‍िस्‍मत". Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  16. ↑ "15 Bidders for Varanasi – Kolkata Expressway's Construction Work". The Metro Rail Guy. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  17. ↑ "11 Bidders for Varanasi – Kolkata Expressway's Packages 11-13". The Metro Rail Guy. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  18. ↑ "Varanasi – Kolkata Expressway – Information & Status". The Metro Rail Guy. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
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