Building Investment (May - June 2022)

IJM officiates record-setting tollway in India
IJM Corporation Berhad (“IJM” of “the
Group”) has achieved another milestone
with the highly anticipated opening of the
Solapur-Bijapur tollway built by its Indian
arm, IJM (India) Infrastructure Limited
(“IJM India”). India’s Honourable Union
Minister for Road Transport and Highways,
Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the fourlane
110 km tollway at a ceremony in
Solapur, Maharashtra state.
The National Highway Authority of
India (NHAI) awarded a 20-year concession
contract to IJM India to develop the
Solapur-Bijapur section of the new
National Highway 52 between the states
of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
At RM1.5 billion (INR 2,325 crores),
the four-lane, 110 km tollway was the
largest Indian project undertaken by
IJM in value and one of the largest
contracts awarded by NHAI on a design,
build, finance, operate and transfer
(DBFOT) basis. The project involved the
rehabilitation, upgrading and widening
of the existing two-lane carriageway to
four-lane standards with bypasses and
the construction of flyovers, bridges, road
intersections, railway overbridges as well
as the operation and maintenance of two
toll plazas.
Provisional commercial operations and
tolling commenced in December 2021.
The construction of the tollway began in
November 2018 and was provisionally
completed in 38 months. In spite of
the challenges posed by the Covid-19
pandemic such as movement restriction
orders, incorporating more stringent
standard operating procedures on health
and safety and supply chain disruptions,
the project was successfully completed
ahead of schedule. To date, actual traffic
volume and revenue are in line with
projection, and the project has generated
positive operational cash flows since
tolling commenced.
Connecting southern and northern
India via the Solapur - Bijapur stretch with
bypasses and six flyovers, the tollway
enables greater convenience on the road
resulting in reduced travel time, cost of
travel and increased ride quality for the
high-density commercial vehicle corridor
between the major Indian cities of
Bangalore (Karnataka State) and Gwalior
IJM India’s record-setting Solapur-Bijapur Tollway aims to strengthen the road network in the states
of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
(Madhya Pradesh State).
“I would like to congratulate our
IJM India team and thank them for their
round-the-clock dedication in completing
the project. The accomplishments and
timely completion of this project reaffirms
our capabilities and track record as a
builder of choice and high-performance
concessionaire,” said Mr Liew Hau
Seng, CEO & Managing Director of IJM
Corporation Berhad.
“Apart from providing earnings
visibility and serving as a long-term
growth driver that the completion of
the Solapur-Bijapur tollway accords the
Group, we are proud to have played a
role in expediting the improvement of
infrastructure in the states of Maharashtra
and Karnataka. Efficient and convenient
toll highways are essential to complement
any government’s efforts to improve its
country’s infrastructure development.
With a stable of prominent projects
completed in India in recent years, IJM
India has emerged as a premier DBFOT
specialist and have set standards for
road construction in the country’s
infrastructure sector,” Mr Liew added.
In February 2021, IJM India set a
national record of laying bituminous
concrete on 25.54 lane kilometers in a
short span of 18 hours for the Solapur-
Bijapur highway. This is the first time in
the history of NHAI projects that such a
feat has been attempted and achieved
by any construction company in India.
This achievement has gained entry into
the Limca Book of Records 2020-2022
India’s Honourable Union Minister for Road
Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari
inaugurated 10 National Highway projects,
including IJM India’s Solapur-Bijapur Tollway in
Solapur, Maharashtra, India.
(India’s version of the Guinness Book
of World Records) and Asia Book of
Records. This year, IJM India was awarded
the Achievement Award for the Best
Professionally Managed Company in
Construction and the Achievement Award
for Best Project for the Solapur-Bijapur
road project by the Construction Industry
Development Council (CIDC) of India at the
13 th CIDC Vishwakarma Awards.
IJM India currently operates
three tolled highways in India — the
110 km Solapur-Bijapur tollway, 68 km
Chilkaluripet-Vijayawada tollway and 19.8
km Dewas Bypass tollway. Since 1998, IJM
India has delivered several major road
projects totalling more than 1,500 route
kilometres along with 20 km of urban rail
projects as well as 20.20 million square
feet of prime residential and commercial
development in India.
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