Larsen and Toubro subsidiary L&T Construction has won a contract worth Rs19.37bn ($395m) from GVK Power and Infrastructure to carry out a major road project in Madhya Pradesh, India.

It involves the four-lane upgrade of 235km of the Shivpuri-Dewas section of National Highway-3 in the state.

Under the agreement, the firm will be responsible for the design, engineering, procurement and construction of the road.

The development will be carried out as a build, finance, operate and transfer (toll) project under the fourth phase of the National Highways Development Programme. Construction work is expected to be complete in 27 months.

Last month, GVK Shivpuri-Dewas Expressway, a subsidiary of GVK Group, had signed a concession agreement with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for this project.

The entire project involves the widening and strengthening of the two lane highway to a four lane highway, with a length of 332.46m at a total cost of Rs29.35bn ($600m). The concession period offered for the project is 30 years, including a construction period of 2.5 years.

Once finished, the project will reduce travel time between Shivpuri and Dewas, as well as be a benefit to the residents in the districts of Guna, Rajgarh, Shajapur, Ujjain and Dewas.

The Mumbai-Agra road is one of India’s major national highways and a vital trade corridor, connecting west and central India to the north of the country.

GVK stated that the project road passes entirely through Madhya Pradesh; carrying predominantly long distance freight traffic and is expected to offer high growth potential for commercial vehicles.

Work on the Shivpuri-Dewas is one of the three mega projects being carried out by NHAI.

GVK implemented India’s first six lane toll road project, the Jaipur Kishangarh on NH8, covering 90km as part of NHAI’s Golden Quadrilateral road network.