10 of India’s biggest infrastructure projects

10 of India’s biggest infrastructure projects
India is planning to invest $1 trillion on infrastructure between 2012 and 2017. The Big 5 Hub selects 10 of India’s biggest ongoing and completed infrastructure projects.

Construction activity forms around 10 per cent of India’s GDP and gives employment to more than 30 million people in the country. It also accounts for more than 60 per cent in total infrastructure investment.

A report by dmg events India, prepared for The Big 5 Construct India 2015 says that the Planning Commission of India has already pledged to invest around $1 trillion in the five-year plan (2012-2017). Indian Ministry of Roads and Transport outlined plans for $120bn worth of road-widening projects. There are also plans for $60bn to be invested in India’s ports by 2020. 

The Big 5 Hub selects ten of India’s biggest infrastructure projects, both completed and under construction.

1. Chenab River Railway Bridge ($92m) Expected to complete by 2019, it will be the highest railway bridge in the world, over river Chenab, 359 meters above the river bed in Katra, Jammu-Kashmir. The 1.3km-long bridge is a part of the 73km-long Katra-Dharam section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.




 2. Navi Mumbai International Airport ($2.4bn) The airport PPP project that has been delayed by land acquisition and environmental issues but pre-development works started in March 2015. The project is expected to complete in 2019.

 3. Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor ($90bn) The project aims to create seven smart cities distributed along a dedicated freight corridor between the Indian capital Delhi and Mumbai. The project will generate three million job opportunities manufacturing/processing sectors.

4. Charanka Solar Park ($280m) A 2,000-hectare plot of land near Charanka village in Patan district, northern Gujarat hosts about 19 different projects by different developers. It is the world's second largest photovoltaic power station. Once complete, the Charanka Solar Park will host 500 MW of solar power systems. The solar park is expected to save around 900,000 tonnes of natural gas annually.

5. Yamuna Expressway ($1.9bn) It is a 6-lane (extendable to 8 lanes), 165 km long, controlled-access expressway, connecting Greater Noida with Agra in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is India's longest six-lane controlled-access expressway stretch.

 6. Banihal-Qazigund tunnel ($282m) The Banihal-Qazigund section includes the 11.2km Pir Panjal tunnel and offers reduced travel distances between the two towns, from the current 35km by road. The section connects the Jammu region to the 119km Kashmir Valley line between Qazigund, Srinagar and Baramula.

 7. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport ($364m) A new integrated terminal can handle 25 million passengers annually, a leap from its previous capacity of 4.8 million a year. Apart from the 195,000-sq. metre, five-level integrated passenger terminal building, the new facility also offers modern taxiways and extension of a runway.

 8. Mumbai’s Eastern Freeway ($220m) Built to reduce travel time between South Mumbai and the Eastern suburbs, the Eastern Freeway connects P D'Mello Road to the Eastern Express Highway at Ghatkopar. Built by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), it covers a distance of 16.8km.

 9. Kathipura flyover ($39.4m) The Kathipara interchange is the largest cloverleaf flyover in Asia, situated at Alandur at the intersection and an important road junction in Chennai.

 10. Bandra-Worli Sea Link ($240m) Also called Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link, it connects Bandra in the Western Suburbs of Mumbai with Worli and a part of the proposed Western Freeway. Bandra-Worli Sea Link is longest bridges above water in India followed by Pamban Bridge.