Zojila Pass under construction in Srinagar by Border Road Organisation

The government invited fresh bids on Wednesday for building the Zojila Tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir and a road from the under-construction Z-Morh Tunnel to the Zojila Tunnel in Ladakh

The government invited fresh bids on Wednesday for building the Zojila Tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir and a road from the under-construction Z-Morh Tunnel to the Zojila Tunnel in Ladakh. These strategic projects aim to provide round-the-year connectivity to Ladakh.

Both these projects will now be funded by the government in the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) mode at an estimated cost of Rs 4,430 crore exclusive of GST, as per the bid document, a copy of which was seen by ET. “We aim to complete these projects in time with close supervision as they have been delayed for long. The EPC mode will ensure the cost is kept in check,” a senior government official told ET on condition of anonymity.

While the government aims to complete the 18.47 km connecting road between the two tunnels in two-and-a-half years by 2023, a six-year-deadline has been fixed to complete the 14.15 km long bi-directional tunnel across the Zojila Pass on the Sonamarg-Kargil section of National Highway-01 from Srinagar to Leh. The connecting road will also see the construction of two twin-tube unidirectional tunnels at Nilghar totalling nearly 2.4 km between Sonamarg and Baltal. This road will connect the Zojila Tunnel with the crucial Z-Morh Tunnel, whose work was awarded to APCO Amarnathji Tunnelway in January at a cost of Rs. 2,379 crore to be completed by 2024.

Bids for the Zojila Tunnel have been invited several times in the past six years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the project, which is said to be Asia's longest bi-directional tunnel, in May 2018. However, in 2019, the contract awarded for the project to IL&FS group company IL&FS Transportation was terminated as the company abandoned the project given its financial problems. The Centre, therefore, decided to build the project in EPC mode instead of the hybrid annuity model as it had planned earlier.

Before that, the bid of IRB Infrastructure was cancelled by the government. The cost of the tunnel was approved by the cabinet in 2018 at Rs 6,800 crore, when a parallel escape (egress) tunnel was also part of the project. The current bid document says it will be a single tube tunnel with allied works as building, drainage, loop roads, vehicle hard standing area, avalanche protection structures, retaining walls and protection works.

The tunnel will cut down the long drive through the Zojila Pass to just 15-20 minutes and ensure all-year-connectivity as the Srinagar-Leh National Highway-01 remains closed during winter due to heavy snowfall, cutting off Ladakh region from Kashmir.