Manager Hong Doo-pyo of the Highway Construction Dep’t of KEC, 3rd R, is seen with the officials of the Indian state holding a copy of the MOU. (Photos: KEC)

The map shows the projected highway connecting Mumbai with Nagpur in the Maharashtra State, India, stretching for 701 km.

Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) will provide technological support for roads to a local government in India.

On Feb. 19, Korea Expressway Corporation announced that the road construction company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation in Mumbai 18 to promote technological cooperation and exchanges in road transportation. The MOU was signed for the implementation of the 701-km Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway project between Nagpur and Mumbai, two major eastern and western cities in Maharashtra, with a total budget of $7 billion.

According to the MOU, Korea Expressway Corporation will review traffic volume and the appropriateness of the construction budget for the Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway, and provide technical support for an optimal project implementation plan, such as completion of phases and section-by-section order planning. In addition, the corporation is planning to expand information and human exchanges with respect to construction, operation and maintenance, and research and development among others.

Earlier, the governments of Korea and India signed an agreement to give financial support of $10 billion to infrastructure construction at the Finance Ministers' Meeting in June of last year. Padnabis, chief minister of Maharashtra, India asked for support for the Nagpur-Mumbai Highway project, a long-cherished project of his state.

As a result, an MOU on cooperation between Korea Expressway Corporation and the related organizations of Maharashtra State was signed between the Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and Maharashtra State in September of last year.

Vice President Hong Doo-pyo, head of the Project Headquarters, said India has been the country with the highest growth rate in the world and plans to make a huge investment in the construction of major highways. KEC would be able to spread the news on how it can help highway construction projects in India in many areas, including technology, to open the doors for Korean construction companies to enter India and provide services.

Korea Expressway Corporation constructs and operates an expressway network in the Republic of Korea and internationally. 

The company operates through four segments: Toll Business, Incidental Business, Supporting Business, and Construction Business. It constructs expressways, tunnels, and bridges; provides expressway maintenance services, such as routine and periodic maintenance, and emergency response, as well as road, facility, and structure rehabilitation; and real-time and three-dimensional road management services. 

The company also offers various traffic management services, such as traffic information; congested area management services, such as shoulder lane system, bus-only lane system, and ramp metering system services; and traffic safety management services, including safety patrol services. In addition, it engages in the auxiliary project activities in the areas of showers, sleeping lounges, Wi-Fi, and restaurants; and solar-light power generation. 

Further, the company provides project management services comprising planning, financing, design, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance services; value engineering services to the expressway projects; and project management of private-funded expressways, as well as operation and maintenance management, and technical assistance services. 

Additionally, it offers intelligent transport systems, such as expressway traffic management systems, toll collection systems, and tunnel traffic management systems; disaster, traffic, pavement, and structure management services; and bridge load rating/testing technology for determining a bridge's real load carrying capacity.