Himachal Deputy CM says construction on world’s second-largest Shimla ropeway project to start in next October
Says it will be completed in 5 years, will generate 20,000 jobs
The Newz Radar
SHIMLA: Efforts to complete the ambitious Shimla ropeway project have intensified and tenders would be floated soon, Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said here on Friday (December 8, 2023).
Agnihotri said that the fare in the ropeway service would be the same as that in buses and its construction was expected to be started in October next year.
Addressing the media, Agnihotri said that the government had acquired almost all NOCs for the project, and that a forest clearance too was likely to be obtained soon. “The first phase of the project will be started within two and a half years while the target is to complete the entire project in 5 years. It will be a 13.55-km-long ropeway and the second longest in the world after a 32-km project in Bolivia, South America,” he said.
The ropeway to be built in Shimla will have three lines, he said, adding that the total cost of the project, to be funded by New Development Bank, would be Rs 1,555 crore. Of this, he said, 72 per cent would be grant-in-aid while 20 per cent would be equity from Himachal government and 8 per cent would be loan.
Will cater to passenger needs for 40 years
Due to increasing traffic congestion in Shimla, the ropeway is being built keeping in mind the situation for the next 40 years. Initially, there will be 220 cabins, which will be increased to 660. The crew of each cabin will be 8 to 10 persons. There will be a global tender for the project. It will connect 13 places, including Taradevi to Chakkar, ISBT, Secretariat and Sanjauli.
The Deputy CM said that about 20,000 people would get direct and indirect employment in the ropeway project.
38-km Parwanoo-Shimla ropeway too in pipeline
Agnihotri said that in the coming time, a ropeway from Parwanoo to Shimla would also be conceptualised, which would be the world’s largest. He said a ropeway would also be built from Jabli to Kasauli, besides from Baba Balak Nath to Bir Billing.
