The National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) has announced a firm deadline for the long-awaited four-laning of the Jhanji-Demow stretch of NH-37, stating the work will be completed by March 2026.
The assurance came from NHIDCL General Manager Devender Kumar during a road safety awareness event in Sivasagar on Saturday. He confirmed that work is being accelerated on the crucial 44-km section.
“Work is being expedited on the 44-km stretch between Jhanji and Demow. We are targeting completion by February 2026 and a maximum by March 2026 it will be completed,” Kumar said expressing confidence that the revised deadline will be met.
This announcement brings a glimmer of hope for a project that has seen significant delays. The foundation stone was laid over nine years ago by Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on February 27, 2016. While other packages under the broader Numaligarh-Dibrugarh connectivity route are nearly or fully complete. The 39.7-km Numaligarh–Jorhat section has achieved 100 per cent completion, while the 37.8-km Jorhat–Jhanji package stands at over 95 per cent physical progress. The 26.9-km Demow–Moran Bypass stretch, which includes an Emergency Landing Facility being developed with the Indian Air Force, has reached about 99 per cent completion, and the 19.1-km Moran Bypass–Bogibeel Junction, Dibrugarh section is fully complete.
The Jhanji-Demow section passing through Jorhat and Sivasagar districts has attained only 56% physical progress. NHIDCL had earlier terminated the previous contractors for the Jhanji–Demow section following prolonged delays and retendered the remaining work in four separate packages.
The toll plaza and associated structures, with a project cost of Rs 100.22 crore, are being executed by Bharadwaj Unibuild Pvt Ltd and have so far achieved around 29 per cent physical progress. A 13-km stretch worth Rs 542.87 crore is under construction by Bharat Vanijya Eastern Pvt Ltd (BVEPL), which has completed nearly 47 per cent of the work, while a 20-km stretch costing Rs 619.70 crore and awarded to contractor Kaushal Sharma has reached about 49 per cent completion. The remaining 11-km section, implemented by Regal Enterprise at a cost of Rs 476.50 crore, is the most advanced among the four, registering 72 per cent physical progress.
“Multiple contractors are now working in parallel, and bottlenecks related to land and approvals have largely been resolved,” Kumar added.
