The Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) will take up new projects under the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode valued at Rs 31,248 crore.
Information available with FE reveal 62 projects are on anvil. The most ambitious of these projects are five expressways?the Mohali-Phagwara Expressway at Rs 2,500 crore, the Mohali-Banur-Baddi expressway, the expressway for Amritsar Airport at Rs 300 crore, the Pathankot-Ajmer Expressway up to the Punjab border, among others.
The other PPP projects include two ring roads?the Amritsar Ring Road to be laid at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore and the Ludhiana Ring Road at an estimated cost of Rs 2,300 crore. The projects include six roads?the Batala-Beas road at Rs 50 crore, the Karatpur-Kapurthala-Nakodar road at Rs 70 crore, the Amritsar-Sri Hargobindpur-Tanda road at Rs 80 crore, the Sirhind-Morinda-Ropar road at Rs 60 crore, the Hoshiarpur-Phagwara road at Rs 60 crore and the Jagraon-Raikot-Malerkotla road at Rs 65 crore.
The PIDB plans to spend Rs 468.72 crore to construct railway over bridges (ROB), railway under bridges and high-level bridges.
State PWD (B&R) minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa told FE that out of the 28 ROBs planned, eight bridges had been completed in Mansa, Lehragaga, Sangrur, Dhuri, Phagwara and Dasuya. An amount of Rs 103.34 crore was spent on these bridges. Work on three bridges at Sara Ka Pattan at Ropar, Bhagi Choe at Hoshiarpur and Mukhu at Gidderpindi was in progress. The total expenditure incurred on these projects was Rs 301.50 crore so far.
The PIDB has proposed two metro rail projects at Ludhiana at an estimated cost of Rs 5,000 crore and the other in Amritsar at Rs 4,500 crore. A project for a mass rapid bus transport system in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar at Rs 15 crore and nine interstate checkpoints are planned at a cost of Rs 300 crore.
Other PIDB projects under the PPP mode include the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences at Jalandhar at Rs 225 crore and a super-speciality hospital at Mohali at Rs 200 crore. The city will also get a sports complex at a cost of Rs 150 crore. Also in the pipeline is the Punjab Habitat Centre at Rs 200 crore, a hotel-cum recreational facility at Bathinda near the proposed Rs 18,500-crore thermal plant coming up with FDI from the LN Mittal Group, touted to be biggest ever FDI flow to Punjab.
The PIDB and the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) plan to develop 5-star and 3-star hotels in the proposed new city centre in Amritsar.
PIDB has floated expressions of interests from international bidders and joint venture parties for developing the hotels on a design, build, operate and transfer basis.
The site is part of the proposed new city centre on about 32 acre and has been planned by Jurong International, Singapore. The site is approximately 3 km from bus terminal, railway station and 10 km from the international airport. The 5-star hotel will come up on 3.4 acre and the 3-star hotel on 1.87 acre. The PIDB has invited financial bids and once these bids are finalised, the selected bidder will be provided with developed land, which includes basic infrastructure for new city centre.