Jamshedpur: The Toll Bridge at Adityapur was inaugurated today by Shri Arjun Munda, Chief Minister of Jharkhand and H M Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel through a ribbon cutting ceremony and unveiling of the plaque. This is the first of its kind infrastructure development project in the State.
Dr (Mrs) Himani Pande, IAS, Deputy Commissioner (East Singhbhum) and Chairman (AIADA & ATBCL), in her opening remarks said that while this bridge will give an additional boost to the industrial development of Jharkhand, safety in all its aspects have also been kept in mind.
Addressing the gathering, Shri Arjun Munda said, “This bridge is a giant leap towards industrial and infrastructure development of the state of Jharkhand. The Govt looks forward to and assures all help towards the commissioning of many such ambitious projects for the people of the State.” Shri Munda also assured that Government will extend all support to Tata Steel’s Eastern and Western Corridor project which is presently under Government consideration. He also informed the gathering about Tata Steel’s proposal for a new airport and assured all help at the State level.
Mr Nerurkar in his address said, “Tata Steel has been proactively working towards understanding and thereafter adhering to the aspirations of the people of Jamshedpur and Adityapur. While industrial development is imperative to boost economic growth of Jharkhand, the safety of the people has been given prime focus. The company will continue to give shape to many more projects in days to come.”
Shri Champai Soren, Hon’ble Minister of State for Tribal Welfare and Transportation, Govt of Jharkhand, attributed the Toll Bridge to the development of the state. He thanked Tata Steel for its unstinted contribution towards growth and development of Jharkhand over the years.
Others present on the occasion were Hon’ble MLAs including Shri Barkunwar Gograi, Smt Menaka Sardar, Shri Banna Gupta, Shri A P Singh; Mr Avinash Kumar, IAS, Commissioner of Kolhan, senior officials of both East and West Singhbhum, Mr Sanjiv Paul, Vice President (Corporate Services) and Mr Bimlendra Jha, Vice President (Long Products) Tata Steel, executives of Adityapur Toll Bridge Corporation Limited (ATBCL), Tata Steel and JUSCO, a large number of industrialists of Adityapur, heads of other Tata Group companies in Jamshedpur and Seraikela; trade union leaders like Shri Raghunath Pandey; Chairman and Vice Chairman of Municipal Corporation, besides others.
The entire facility i.e bridge, toll plaza & it’s equipment, approach roads on either side, power supply, lighting etc. is designed, supplied and constructed by M/s Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company Ltd (JUSCO) against an EPC contract from ATBCL.
Adityapur Toll Bridge Project
Adityapur Toll Bridge Company Limited (ATBCL) is a limited company incorporated in 1996 with the participation of State Government and Tata Steel along with other industries in Jamshedpur & Adityapur. ATBCL was created to implement the project for second road bridge, connecting the industrial towns of Jamshedpur and Adityapur on a Public – Private – Partnership (PPP) format. In Dec 2007, ATBCL signed a 30 year concession agreement with Government of Jharkhand (GoJ), to construct a four lane Toll Bridge across river Kharkai between Adityapur and the city Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and operate & maintain the bridge during the concession period.
The salient features of the project costing Rs 76 crores are as follows:
(1) 240 m long four lane main bridge over river Kharkai.
(2) A minor bridge of 41 m length
(3) Four lane approach road on both sides, i.e., Jamshedpur and Adityapur, with a total length of about 2.2km
(4) Culvert and drainage structures in the approach roads
(5) Intersection of approach road with other main existing roads
(6) A semi-automatic 8 lane toll plaza
(7) Power supply and electrification of the entire project including street light, high mast tower at appropriate locations
With several initiatives on the growth of the industries in and around Jamshedpur, it has become essential to have a better connectivity of Jamshedpur with the satellite town of Adityapur, which is the industrial hub catering to Companies like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Cummins, Timken, BOC, Praxair, Tata BlueScope Steel, Lafarge Cement, etc. The construction of this toll bridge, which would be the first of its kind in Jharkhand, is a step towards spurring the growth of economic activity in this region.
This connectivity will also help in reducing congestion in Jamshedpur city as all Goods traffic originating from Adityapur for going to NH33 and vice-versa will not be required to ply on the city internal roads.