Sadbhav Engineering bags Rs 560 crore project

Sadbhav Engineering has bagged Rs 560 crore road construction project to improve and widen the 76 km Sardar Patel Ring Road. For this the company is going to set up a SPV - Ahmedabad Ring Road Infrastructure.

"The SPV will be launched for a period of 20 years. It will be 15 per cent by equity and 85 per cent by debt," said Nitin Patel, executive director of Sadbhav Engineering.

The consortium will convert the existing two-lane road around Ahmedabad city into a four-lane road.

The project on implementation will reduce the distance and commuting time between east and west Ahmedabad. The construction is to be completed within 18 months including a new bridge over Sabarmari River near Bhat Village.

"This is Gujarat's biggest project so far to be executed under the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis," said Vishnubhai Patel, CMD of the company. There will be seven toll collection centre which will be managed by the company on the new highway.

This is the state's first city ring road project and it will serve as a key corridor connecting Ahmedabad with Delhi, Mumbai on one side and Saurashtra on the other. It will also be a vital link between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, the state capital.

This is state's first city Ring Road Project awarded by Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority, Patel added. AUDA has also granted advertisement rights as per agreed conditions to the company for the entire length of the project highway including all junctions and circles for the entire concession period.

The company has booked orders of projects worth about Rs 2,500 crore which are to be implemented in the next 36 months, said Nitin Patel, executive director of Sadbhav Engineering. Sadbhav aims to give more thrust on infrastructure, mining and irrigation projects. In March 2006 the company had booked orders of Rs 1,080 crore.

"We have booked orders of Rs 260 crore for mining projects, Rs 220 crore for irrigation projects and the remaining Rs 2000 crore on road projects," Patel said.

The company has submitted tender for northern coal field near Banaras, the cost of which is estimated at Rs 500 crore.