NH-351G Upgrade: Rs 2,125.55 Crore Cleared for 196 km in Saurashtra

Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari has cleared Rs 2,125.55 crore to upgrade 196 km of NH-351G, from Nageshri through Amreli to Chotila in Saurashtra, on the hybrid annuity model. For machine owners in Amreli, Rajkot and Surendranagar this is a long, mostly two-lane widening job, and the rate per kilometre says it will run on graders, rollers and tippers far more than on big excavators.

What was approved

DeshGujarat and Gujarat First both reported the sanction on 04 Oct, quoting the minister’s post of 03 Oct, and they agree on the cost, the length, the lane configuration and the mode. Neither gave the length of the four-lane stretches, the number of packages, or whether Rs 2,125.55 crore is the civil cost or the full project cost with land and utility shifting. We have not seen a MoRTH or NHAI release on it yet.

What does Rs 10.8 crore a kilometre buy?

Divide the sanction by the length and you get roughly Rs 10.8 crore per km. That is on a headline basis, so read it as an upper bound for civil work. Our own anchors put it in context: the NH-365BB two-lane upgrade in Andhra Pradesh, the same paved-shoulder spec, came to about Rs 18.6 crore per km, and the Damoh-Katni four-lane in Madhya Pradesh to about Rs 16.6 crore per km on construction cost. NH-351G is the cheapest of the three by some distance, even with four-lane sections inside it.

The likely explanation is that most of the money goes into widening a road that already exists, not cutting a new one. That means shoulder excavation, granular sub-base and wet mix macadam, bituminous layers on top, and a string of culverts and minor bridges. The machine list follows from that: motor graders and soil compactors for the base layers, tandem and pneumatic rollers behind the paver, backhoe loaders for drains and culvert pits, and a steady tipper shuttle from the nearest quarry. The Amreli bypass is the exception. A bypass is new formation, so it keeps 20-tonne-class excavators and fill compaction on site for longer. Our road construction equipment guide covers what each of these machines does on a highway job.

Widening beside live traffic also limits how many machines can work one stretch at a time. That favours a fleet that relocates often over one parked for months, and for smaller owners it reads as hire work, not a reason to buy.

HAM changes the timing too. The government pays 40 percent of the bid project cost during construction and the rest as annuities, so a developer has to win the bid and reach financial closure before an appointed date is fixed. Machines will not mobilise this season.

Our take: if you run graders or rollers in Saurashtra, treat this as a pipeline signal for work in the 2027 dry season, not a reason to sign a loan today. The package count is the number to wait for. Three or four packages would bring in mid-size HAM developers who hire heavily; a single package would suit a large EPC firm with its own fleet.

FAQ

What is the NH-351G upgrade in Gujarat?

It is a Rs 2,125.55 crore sanction to widen 196 km of NH-351G between Nageshri, Amreli and Chotila. Most of it becomes a two-lane road with paved shoulders, with four-lane sections at the Amreli bypass, Jasdan-Atkot-Babra and Chotila city.

When will work on NH-351G start?

No start date has been published. Under the hybrid annuity model the stretch must be bid out, a developer must reach financial closure, and an appointed date must be set first, so site work is unlikely before the 2027 dry season.

Which machines will the NH-351G project need?

Mainly motor graders, soil compactors, tandem and pneumatic rollers, pavers, backhoe loaders and tippers for widening an existing road. The Amreli bypass, being new formation, will also need excavators and more fill compaction.

Related on DesiMachines: NH-365BB Upgrade: Centre Clears Rs 840.41 Crore for 45 km in Andhra Pradesh

Source: DeshGujarat