The work on NH-41 connecting Kolaghat on NH-6 to the Haldia Port was abandoned after the NHAI terminated the contract it had awarded to a joint venture — Chinese Water Hydro Energy Corporation and its Indian partner, Harish Chandra India Ltd. The reason: The project had overshot its original deadline of March 2005 by two years.

The NHAI has now awarded a new contract to an Indian firm, M/S Dinesh Chandra R Agarwal Infracon Pvt Ltd, more than a year after the work on the project was terminated on April 26, 2007. “The work will begin by mid-October and the deadline has been set for 2010,” said RP Singh, Project Director, NHAI.

The original deadline of the project, which began in September 2002, was March 2005. However, only 42 per cent of the work was completed when the contract with the earlier firm was terminated.

The total cost of the project was pegged at Rs 220 crore, of which Rs 137 crore had already been utilised. The estimated project cost has now been revised to around Rs 290 crore.