Patna, July 27 (IANS) A Visakhapatnam-based firm will construct the 21.5 km Ganga Expressway in Bihar at an estimated cost of Rs.2,234.46 crore (Rs.22.34 billion), an official said Saturday.

Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd will construct the expressway, which will be thrown open to traffic in 2017.

"The state government awarded the contract to Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd as its quoted price was lowest among the seven bidders," said Pratyay Amrit, road construction department secretary.

"Work on the project will commence in October," he added.

The state government approved the project in August 2012. It will stretch from Deedarganj to Digha Ghat in the state capital.

HUDCO will loan Rs.2,000 crore (Rs.20 billion) to the Bihar government for constructing the expressway, an official of the chief minister's office said.

Last year, the state government failed to attract private investors for the project on a public-private-partnership. Early this year, it decided to give the project to a government agency, an official said.

The government also cleared the decks to acquire over 200 hectares of land for the project, the official said.

In the first phase, the expressway will connect Digha and Didarganj, a stretch of 21 km, and in the second phase, it will go 18 km further to Fatuha. About seven kilometres will be elevated.

A road construction department official said Bihar State Road Construction Corporation will execute and monitor the project.