Sudhmahadev Dranga Tunnel Tender, NH-244 Udhampur (Rs 2,765 Cr)

Twin tube tunnels and approach roads on the Chenani to Sudhmahadev to Goha stretch of NH-244 in Jammu and Kashmir are out for bid at an estimated ₹2,765.71 Cr, closing 15 October 2026.

NHIDCL is running this one as a full EPC contract, not a qualification round. The bid documents already include the draft concession agreement, the RFP, the schedules and a priced BOQ, so a bidder can price the job today. Work is filed under Udhampur district and the earnest money of ₹27,65,71,000 works out to exactly 1.00 per cent of the estimate, which confirms the headline figure against a second number on the notice.

Scope on the ground

The package covers construction of the uni-directional Sudhmahadev to Dranga twin tube tunnels together with their approach roads. Uni-directional means each tube carries traffic one way, so both bores plus portals, cross passages and the connecting road stretches at either end sit inside one contract. Bid validity is 120 days across two covers, withdrawal is allowed, and no corrigendum had been issued at the time of writing. One thing to note: the source sector tag on this notice reads as a goods listing, while the product category on the tender itself is civil works. Search by tender ID rather than by category or you will miss it.

Who should bid

Hill tunnelling in the Chenab and Udhampur belt is a specialised field, and the bidder list on past NHIDCL tunnel work is dominated by firms that already run tunnel spreads in Jammu and Kashmir. If you are a machine owner or a mid-size contractor, the openings sit under the main contractor: muck haulage on a 24-hour cycle, portal and approach earthwork, retaining structures, drainage, and aggregate and concrete supply to portal batching plants. Hill sites also run through hired tippers heavily, because haul distances to disposal areas are long and single-lane sections cap the fleet each tipper can replace.

Equipment this job runs on

Tunnel drives of this type use drill jumbos, roadheaders, mucking loaders, shotcrete robots and low-profile dumpers inside the bore. Outside the portals it is standard hill civil work: excavators with rock breakers for portal cut and benching, wheel loaders on muck and aggregate, compactors on the approach embankments, and concrete mixers feeding lining and retaining work. Winter access on NH-244 shapes the programme, so plan machine deployment around the working season rather than the calendar year.

Key facts

How to apply

1. Open the official portal: Central Public Procurement Portal.
2. Search by tender ID 2026_NHIDC_924210_1 (reference no. NHIDCL/JK/NH-244/ S-DTunnel/2020-21) under National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation.
3. Register on the portal and keep a valid Class III digital signature certificate ready for your authorised signatory.
4. Download the NIT, RFP, draft agreement, schedules and BOQ, then check the eligibility criteria, the ₹27,65,71,000 EMD and the ₹3,30,400 tender fee.
5. Submit online before 15 October 2026, after the submission window opens on 26 September 2026.

More on DesiMachines

Two other hill jobs are open in the same belt: the Kulgam protection works on the Veshow Nallah in Jammu and Kashmir, and the BRO Gue to Pong road package in Himachal Pradesh. For a comparable tunnel spread outside the hills, look at the Indore Metro twin tunnel and underground station package. See more live tenders in Jammu and Kashmir or all live tenders. If you are sizing a fleet for hill work, compare backhoe loaders and check equipment finance before you commit.

FAQ

Tender details are summarised for convenience and may change. Always verify the latest dates, terms and documents on the official tendering portal before bidding. DesiMachines is not responsible for changes made by the issuing authority.