Varanasi ropeway project gets Rs 322 cr funding from Swiss firm

NEW DELHI: Vishwa Samudra Engineering (VSE), the Hyderabad-based company tasked to build, operate and maintain urban ropeway in PM Narendra Modi‘s constituency Varanasi, has secured $40 million or over Rs 322 crore of funding from Switzerland’s Xport Finance, company’s executive director Shivdutt Das told ET.

The National Highways and Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), under the administrative control of the ministry of road transport and highways and a 100% owned company of the National Highways Authority of India, has entered into a 60:40 joint venture with VSE to construct the ropeway, sharing 60% of the estimated Rs 807 crore cost of the project.

The project could be completed ahead of schedule by early next year as against the earlier target of August 2025, he said. “We had initially targeted to deliver the Varanasi ropeway project by August 2025. At the current pace of work, we should complete it before time,” Das said.

With an order book in excess of Rs 20,000 crore for the current year, Vishwa Samudra Engineering is projecting revenue growth of over 55% in 2024-25 at an estimated Rs 5,000 crore compared to Rs 3,200 crore in 2023-24.

The ropeway is being constructed with technical expertise from Bartholet Maschinenbau of Switzerland under the hybrid annuity model, in which 60% of the cost will be paid during the construction period and 40% during operation-maintenance period. The company will maintain the ropeway for 15 years.