Government set to earn from Kedarnath ropeway project as Adani quotes to share 42% of revenue

NEW DELHI: Govt will earn from the ropeway project connecting Sonprayag, Gaurikund and Kedarnath without any investment as Adani Enterprises has quoted a share of around 42% of the revenue with NHLML, the agency implementing such projects across the country. Considering that the nearly 13 km rope-way is expected to get a large number of pilgrims as it promises to reduce travel time to barely 36 minutes from 8-9 hours, three out of the four bidders had offered revenue sharing with the agency.

The National Highway Logistics Management Ltd (NHLML) had earlier cancelled bids twice and after making several improvements, fresh bids were invited. Recently, the Cabinet had given its approval for the Rs 4,081 crore project to be implemented on public private partnership (PPP) mode.

The ropeway will have the capacity to transport 18,000 persons per day or around 32 lakh per year. The Kedarnath temple is usually open for six months. The project will be completed in six years and the successful bidder will have the right to operate, maintain and collect the fare for 35 years.The Sonprayag-Kedarnath ropeway will be based on Tri-cable Detachable Gondola (3S) technology and each gandola can accommodate 36 passengers.

Last year around 23 lakh pilgrims visited Kedarnath shrine.

Officials said that the financial bids for the 12.4 km Govindghat-Ghangaria-Hemkund Sahib ropeway project would be opened next week. The estimated cost of the project is around Rs 2,730 crore and it will have the capacity to transport 11,000 passengers per day.