After finally getting the Centre's nod, the Girnar ropeway project is going global. With the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) giving a green signal to the original plan, the ropeway project will now be designed in the European country Austria.
While Usha Breco Limited (UBL) will be handling the construction of Girnar ropeway, its technical partner company Doppelmayr will be designing the project. Marred by a series of controversies, the project had been stalled for the past 16 years due to environment concerns. Now after all kind of clearances from the government, construction work on the project will take off in next six months.
"Design of the Girnar ropeway will be made in Austria and it will be one of India's state-of-the-art work of design. We will send our engineer to Austria and discuss the location and undertake the paperwork of ropeway design," said Deepak Kaplish, project incharge, Usha Breco Limited. About 38 cabins will ply on the rope which can carry 1000 people per hour. .
The Girnar ropeway project will cost about Rs 100 crore and will be completed in two and half years after the work on the ropeway building begins.
This means that Saurashtra and Gujarat will have to wait at least three more years before the project commissions. Usha Breco Limited (UBL) was established in the year 1969 as a joint venture between Usha Martin Industries Limited, India then the largest wire rope manufacturers in Asia and now the second largest in the world and British Ropeway Engineering Co. Ltd. (BRECO), U.K.
Meanwhile, Doppelmayr Group has production facilities and sales and service locations in over 33 countries of the world and has built more than 14,100 installations in over 83 countries till date. Doppelmayr Italia GmbH was awarded the contract for the construction of the new ropeway on the Mont Blanc. This is the biggest order so far for the South Tyrolean company which has its headquarters in Lana. The total order value is of EUR 105 million and now the group will provide its service to the Girnar ropeway as well.
