IRB Infrastructure Developers, which recently won the contract for the Zoji La Pass tunnel road in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India, said on Tuesday the government has canceled the award without mentioning any reason.

The government may have ordered rebidding of the tunnel contract, according to sources.

The project, which was to connect Srinagar to Ladakh region that remains cut off during winters, included South Asia’s longest tunnel road. 

IRB had won the contract for the project on 4 January, 2016 being the sole bidder for the project in its final round. The initial round had seen a handful of participants, including IL&FS Transportation Ltd and HCC Ltd.

At an estimated cost of Rs.100,500 million (around US1.5 billion), the 14.08-km tunnel was considered India’s most expensive road project, to be completed in seven years.

The project was awarded on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (annuity) basis.

The Zoji La project had landed in a controversy as soon as it was awarded, as there were complaints about the close relationship between the promoters of IRB and the Union roads minister Nitin Gadkari