Hyderabad company bags India's first urban ropeway project at Varanasi

The NHLML, a subsidiary of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has awarded the Rs 815-Cr Varanasi Urban Ropeway Project to a Hyderabad-based company, Viswa Samudra Engineering. It will procure technology from a Swiss firm to complete the country's first ropeway project by May 2025.

Hyderabad:The National Highways Logistics Management Ltd (NHLML), a subsidiary of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has awarded the Rs 815-Cr Varanasi Urban Ropeway Project to a Hyderabad-based company, Viswa Samudra Engineering and its Switzerland-based technology partner Bartholet Maschinenbau AG, sources said.

The country’s first urban ropeway project is aimed at reducing travel time in the congested stretch between the Cantonment railway station and Godowalia Chowk. The work will start by May 2023 and will be completed by May 2025.

The Swiss company, which specialises in ropeway projects, will provide the technology and equipment. The Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) will be used in the project wherein 60 per cent of the cost will be paid as a construction support during the construction period and the remaining 40 per cent will be paid as annuity during the operation and maintenance period.

Under this project, five stations will come up at Varanasi Cantonment, Vidya Peeth (Bharat Mata Mandir), Rath Yatra, Girja Ghar and Godowlia Chowk. A policy on ticketing will be framed by the NHLML.

Over 30 towers will be built for the ropeway and the height of the towers will vary from 10 meters to 55 meters. Girja Ghar would only be a technical station. Boarding and deboarding will not be allowed at Girja Ghar.

Three more ropeway projects will come up in the country in the coming days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for ropeway projects in Uttarakhand — Gaurikund to Kedarnath and Govindghat to Hemkund. Another will come up in Ghaziabad.

The project design allows a maximum of 3,000 passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD) with a total operation time of 16 hours per day. It can handle a passenger load of 96,000 per day. Around 153 cabins will be deployed and each will have the capacity to carry 10 passengers.