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According to the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) emerged as the lowest bidder for the prestigious Zojila Pass tunnel to provide all-year connectivity between Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh union territories.

Among the three bidders in the race including Larsen & Toubro and Ircon International JV, the hyderabad-headquartered company had quoted the lowest Rs 4,509.5 crore for the the tunnel project, stuck for over six years now.

The project holds strategic significance as Zojila Pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway and remains closed during winters due to heavy snowfall.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari last month had said that the work on the project will start soon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in May 2018 laid the foundation stone for the Rs 6,800 crore project, billed as Asia's longest bi-directional tunnel, in Jammu and Kashmir However, barely months after the foundation, the NHIDCL on January 15, 2019, terminated the contract awarded to troubled IL&FS group company IL&FS Transportation after it abandoned the project citing financial problems.

MEIL has become L-1 in Zojila Pass tunnel in Jammu Kashmir-Ladakh in the Himalayan region. NHIDCL opened the bids, and MEIL topped the list by quoting less than other companies.

According to a statement by MEIL,the Zojilla tunnel is to be built in horseshoe shape of 14.15 km as a two-road lane of 9.5 meters wide and 7.57 meters high. This project will have to carry out innovatively in the most critical conditions.

The company also said the project is in a complex hill and its completion schedule is 72 months in two parts. The first part is 18.50 kilometers of road, and the second part is 14.15 kilometers as a tunnel.

Gadkari had said that the tunnel for all-year connectivity between Leh and Srinagar may undergo some design changes to prevent cost escalation.

The cancellation of the award in January last year was the second time NHIDCL had scrapped the contract for the 14.15-km tunnel project.