NHAI bans KNR Constructions from participating in ongoing & future road contracts bidding

New Delhi: National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Thursday said it has disallowed KNR Constructions Ltd from participating in ongoing and future bidding forthwith after the failure of the reinforced earth wall on Ramanattukara-Valanchery Section of NH-66 in Kerala.

An incident of settlement of embankment and failure of RE Wall was reported on Ramanattukara - Valanchery Section of NH-66 in Kerala on 19th May 2025 when the project was nearing completion.

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KNR Constructions Ltd was the concessionaire of the project.

"Taking strict action against the Concessionaire, NHAI has disallowed M/s KNR Constructions Ltd from participating in ongoing/ future bidding forthwith," the state-owned agency said in a statement.

Prima facie, the statement said the incident occurred due to the negligence of the concessionaire to confirm the ground conditions and improve ground bearing capacity prior to the commencement of work.

According to the statement, project consultant Highway Engineering Consultant has also been disallowed from participating in ongoing/ future bidding.

Project Manager of concessionaire and team leader of consultant have also been suspended from their duties, it added.

The statement said a team of two experts under the supervision of a Retd. Professor from IIT-Delhi, visited the site to analyse the reason for the incident and suggest remedial measures.

Based on the measures suggested by the expert team, work will be executed at the risk and cost of Concessionaire, it said.

Additionally, the statement said the expert team will also suggest measures that could be taken in other ongoing projects in Kerala and Guidelines will be issued so that such incidents do not occur in other projects being implemented in the state.

"Preliminary Assessment of failure by the experts is failure of embankment likely caused due to inability of foundation soils to support high embankment loads," it said.

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