BTECH CIVIL ENGINEERING

2. What is national highway infrastructure
development corporation limited
National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation is a fully
owned company of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways,
Government of India.
It was created to develop, maintain and manage the national highways,
strategic roads and other infrastructure of India.
It was dedicated to the task of promoting regional connectivity in parts of
the country which share international boundaries.

3. History about NHIDCL
Highways Connectivity Company Ltd. was set up under
Companies Act, 2013. The name of the company was
subsequently changed to National Highways and
Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.
It started functioning from 18 July 2014.
Sh. Anand Kumar was the first Managing Director of
NHIDCL in 2014.
Chanchal Kumar is the present Managing Director of
NHIDCL since 31 January 2022.

4. It works as a specialised agency in high altitude areas and border
areas.
It is responsible for the development, maintenance and
management of National Highways in hilly terrain of North-East
part of India, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttarakhand.
Apart from highways, NHIDCL is constructing logistic hubs and
transport related infrastructures e.g. multimodal transport hubs
such as bus ports, container depots, automated multilevel car
parking etc.

5. Projects under NHIDCL
The NHIDCL has the task to implement the Special Accelerated
Road Development Programme for North Eastern Region
(SARDP-NE) in National Highways portion. The SARDP-NE is
under implementation in Phases.
•Phase-A: Approved in 2005, it included about 4,099 km length of
roads (3,014 km of NH and 1,085 km of State roads). The
SARDP-NE Phase ‘A’ is expected to be completed by 2023-24.
•Phase-B: It covers 3,723 km (2,210 km NHs and 1,513 km of
State roads) of road. Phase ‘B’ of SARDP-NE shall be taken up
after completion of Phase ‘A’.

7. Tunnels
NHIDCL has been constructing tunnels in challenging conditions since its
inception. Some of the big tunnel projects are as under
Zoji La Tunnel
The Zoji La tunnel project was approved by the government of india in
January 2018
Length-14.15km
Width-9.5 m
Lane-2 lane (Asia’s longest bidirectional tunnel)
Height-3528m from sea leavel
Connectivity – baltal to minamarg in ladakh (in jamu kashmir)

8. Zojila Tunnel project map
Tunnel completion is expected about 5–7 years after commencement of
construction in 2018.
Its construction period will be five years because of a very difficult terrain
where in some areas the temperature drops to -45 °C
The travel time currently between Sonamarg and Meenamarg is four
hours, while it will drastically come down to just 40 minutes after this is
completed.

9. Zojila tunnel project cost
Initially budge- 6575.85 crores
After ( considering escalation at 5% per annum.)- 8,308 crores
Union minister, Nitin Gadkari, recently said that while the cost of the
Zojila tunnel in the tender was projected at around Rs 11,000 crores,
the government has taken efforts to lower the cost by Rs 5,000 crores.

10. Zojila tunnel timeline
•2005: Connecting Srinagar and Leh, the tunnel project was first
planned, and a detailed project report (DPR) was prepared by the Border
Roads Organisation (BRO) in 2013.
•July 2016: The project was given to NHIDCL for implication.
•January 2018: The Zojila tunnel project received approval from the
union cabinet.
•May 2018: The foundation stone was laid by prime minister Narendra
Modi.
•February 2020: The project was reviewed by the Ministry for Road
Transport and Highways.
•May 2020: An expert group submitted its report that was approved by
the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

11. Zojila Tunnel benefits
The Zojila Pass is closed during snowfall in the winter months, thus,
cutting off Ladakh from Kashmir and other parts of the country.
free from avalanches, augment safety in the region and significantly
reduce the travel time by more than three hours, to a mere 15 minutes.
The distance between Baltal and Minamarg will be reduced to about 13
kilometres from the existing route of 40 kilometres.
Once completed, the project is also expected to give a push to tourism,
local business activities and employment opportunities in the region.

12. Shinku La Tunnel specifications
•Name of Tunnel: Shinku-La Tunnel
•Length of Tunnel: 4.25 KM (earlier 13.5km)
•Location: Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh and Zanskar, UT of Ladakh
Work was started in summer (2022).

13. Bridges
NHIDCL has been constructing some of the prestigious
bridges in challenging conditions since its inception. Some of
the notable projects are as under:
Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge
Rs. 3,166 crore Brahmaputra bridge project.
longest bridge over a river in India, spanning over more than
19 km.
located near the Bangladesh border and will connect Dhubri
in Assam with Phulbari in Meghalaya
The bridge is being funded by Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA)