J Kumar Infraprojects Set to Win Major ₹2,360 Crore Vadhvan Port Road Link Deal.

The J Kumar Infraprojects is poised to secure a ₹2,360 crore engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract from the National Highways Authority of India to build a 32.18-km, 4-lane expressway (expandable to 8 lanes) connecting Tawa Village on NH 48 to the upcoming Vadhvan Port in Maharashtra. The award comes shortly after the land acquisition process for the project was completed.

Sources said J Kumar Infraprojects submitted the lowest bid, 6.67 per cent below NHAI’s estimated cost of ₹2,528.76 crore, giving a significant boost to the new port project. Initially planned under a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) toll model, the road project was later shifted to the EPC mode due to low projected traffic in its early years, as the expressway is expected to open before the port becomes operational.

The Cabinet, while approving the Vadhvan Port project on 19 June 2024, delegated the authority to decide the execution mode for the road link to the Ministers of Road Transport and Finance, following recommendations from the Public Investment Board and the Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee.

During a 9 December 2024 meeting chaired by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, officials concluded that the BOT toll model “may not be feasible” initially, as traffic will be minimal until the port’s first phase becomes operational around 2029-30. The project will start as a 4-lane expressway, with provisions to expand to 8 lanes later, while all structures, bridges, and tunnels will be constructed to 8-lane specifications from the outset to ensure scalability.

Once traffic increases with the development of the port, the expressway is expected to be monetised under the Toll, Operate, and Transfer (TOT) model, according to official minutes of the December meeting reviewed by ET Infra.