OREANDA-NEWS. July 18, 2011. The toll bridge at Adityapur was inaugurated by Arjun Munda, Chief Minister of Jharkhand, and HM Nerurkar, managing director, Tata Steel, through a ribbon-cutting ceremony and unveiling of the plaque. This is a first-of-its-kind infrastructure development project in the state.

Himani Pande, IAS, deputy commissioner, East Singhbhum, and chairman, AIADA and Adityapur Toll Bridge Corporation (ATBCL), in her opening remarks said that while this bridge will give an additional boost to the industrial development of Jharkhand, safety in all its aspects has also been kept in mind.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Munda said, "This bridge is a giant leap towards industrial and infrastructure development of the state of Jharkhand. The government looks forward to, and assures all help towards, the commissioning of many such ambitious projects for the people of the state." Mr Munda also assured that the government will extend all support to Tata Steel’s Eastern and Western Corridor project which is presently under government consideration. He also informed the gathering about Tata Steel’s proposal for a new airport and assured all help at the state level.

Mr Nerurkar in his address said, "Tata Steel has been pro-actively working towards understanding and thereafter adhering to the aspirations of the people of Jamshedpur and Adityapur. While industrial development is imperative to boost economic growth of Jharkhand, the safety of the people has been given prime focus. The company will continue to give shape to many more projects in the days to come."

Champai Soren, minister of state for tribal welfare and transportation, Government of Jharkhand, attributed the toll bridge to the development of the state. He thanked Tata Steel for its unstinted contribution towards growth and development of Jharkhand over the years.

Others present on the occasion were MLAs including Barkunwar Gograi; Menaka Sardar; Banna Gupta; AP Singh; Avinash Kumar, IAS, commissioner of Kolhan; senior officials of both East Singhbum and West Singhbhum; Sanjiv Paul, vice president, corporate services, Tata Steel, and Bimlendra Jha, vice president, long products, Tata Steel; executives of ATBCL, Tata Steel and Jusco; a large number of industrialists of Adityapur; heads of other Tata group companies in Jamshedpur and Seraikela; trade union leaders such as Raghunath Pandey; chairman and vice chairman of the municipal corporation, besides others.

The entire facility, ie, bridge, toll plaza and its equipment, approach roads on either side, power supply, lighting, etc, is designed, supplied and constructed by Jusco against an EPC contract from ATBCL.