L&T Bags 'Large' Contract From Indian Railways For Under Construction Rishikesh-Karanprayag Rail Line In Uttarakhand

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged a major construction order from the Indian Railways' Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) for the Package 4 of the New Broad-Gauge Line between Rishikesh and Karanprayag in Uttarakhand.

The project will cost between Rs 2500-5000 crore as it is classified under the ‘large’ category and it has to comply with a strict completion deadline of 60 months. Tunnels, construction shaft, ancillary works from Chainage 47+360 to 63+117 Km between Rishikesh and Karanprayag are some of the construction works to be done under the package.

Moreover, a 14.577 km upline and 13.123 km downline tunnel along with embankments of around 800 meters on both ends will be constructed under this project.

"Out of 14.577 Km and 13.123 Km of tunnel, 10.49 Km and 10.317 Km of tunnel will be excavated using two new hard rock Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) of diameter 9.1 meters and the balance using New Austrian Tunnel Method (NATM)," the company said in a statement.

The scope of the project also includes construction of an Ellipsoidal cum Ventilation Shaft in the finished cross-section of 79 square meters and depth of 32 meters. This will be the biggest TBM to be deployed in the Himalayan region in India and the TBM bored tunnel length of 20.807 Km will be the longest for any project in the Himalayan region, the company said.

“Establishing a rail link between Rishikesh and Karanprayag will not only facilitate easy access to Uttarakhand’s pilgrimage sites, but also enable development of backward areas, connect new trade centres, and serve the resident population. The railway line traverses rugged Himalayan terrains, with the alignment oriented across and sometimes sub parallel to major thrust zones in the Himalayas with complex geological conditions," said S V Desai, Whole Time Director and Senior Executive Vice President (Civil Infrastructure) of L&T.

It should be noted that the L&T is already constructing Package 2 of this prestigious project involving 24 Kms of Tunnelling by the NATM, minor bridges and formation works.