SVBTC eyes at better profit from Sister Nivedita Setu

Kolkata: The Second Vivekananda Bridge Tollway Company Private Ltd (SVBTC) that had constructed the Second Vivekananda Bridge popularly known as Sister Nivedita Setu is eyeing at a reasonable profit margin in the next few years. The Nivedita Bridge that had started its operation in the year 2007 is a chief link that connects major industrial areas like Kalyani and Durgapur with the residential townships of Rajarhat-New Town, Dankuni township, Baishnabghata Patuli townships etc.

"The expected traffic growth in the bridge has been lower than that we expected. The bridge was projected to handle 1.4 lakh passenger car unit (PCU) per day. However, it is now handling only 45,000 PCU daily which is one third less than the actual projection. However, we have managed to make a meagre profit this year and are hopeful that in the next two years we will be able to earn profit," Lala K K Roy, director Corporate Development & Governance said. The Sister Nivedita Bridge has successfully completed ten years of its operation.

A senior official of SVBTC expressed his optimism that with the industrial push in Bengal in the last few years, the traffic growth is expected to rise.

Roy, however, expressed his apprehension over the encroachment of buses and trucks at Dakshineshwar. "We had written to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) expressing our concern that movement of buses and trucks brings in chances of collision with one of the piers. "As per instructions of NHAI, we had also made a plan of Rs 10 crore for additional protection to the pier and sent it back to NHAI but it did not materialise for some reasons," he said.

The project of Nivedita Bridge was the first-of-its-kind public private partnership between the Ministry of Shipping, the Road Transport & Highways of NHAI, state government and SVBTC.