KNR Wins Chittoor – Thatchur Expressway’s Package 3

KNR Constructions on June 4 emerged as the lowest bidder to construct the 34.66 km Package 3 of the 116.1 km Chittoor – Thatchur Expressway (NH-716B), after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) opened financial bids.

This 6 lane greenfield access-controlled corridor will link the 262 km Bangalore – Chennai Expressway near Chittoor with the 133 km Chennai Peripheral Ring Road (CPRR project) at Kannigaipair to allow for direct connectivity to Kamarajar (Ennore) and Kattupalli ports. This will also give travelers from Bengaluru another route option at Chittoor to travel to North Chennai.

This expressway with 4 civil packages has been designed with a 70m ROW (right of way) and speed limit of 100 kmph. More design details can be viewed here.

NHAI invited tenders for constructing Package 3 in November 2020 with a Rs. 844.36 crore estimate and 4 year completion deadline. Technical bids were opened in April to reveal 11 bidders.

Financial Bid Values of Lowest 5 Technically-Qualified Bidders:

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
KNR Constructions	954.29
DRA Infracon	969.78
Adani	1007.08
DP Jain & Co	1080.09
Magha Engineering	1088.49

Package: NHAI/BM/Chittoor-Thachur/ Pkg-III/2020

Brief Scope: Development of Six Lane Chittoor-Thatchur Highway from km 61.380 to km 96.040 on Hybrid Annuity Mode under Bharatmala Pariyojna in the state of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (Package-III)

KNR’s bid of Rs 954.29 crore was 13% higher than NHAI’s budgeted estimate, but that shouldn’t be a blocker looking at the history of prior tenders awarded by NHAI. A list of this expressway’s 4 civil packages and their status can be viewed here.

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– TMRG