Opened in 1992, Vidyasagar Setu was the first[2] and longest cable-stayed bridge in India at the time of its inauguration.

It was the second bridge to be built across the Hooghly River in Kolkata metropolitan region and was named after the education reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

The project was a joint effort between the public and private sectors, under the control of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC).

[5] The bridge is named after the 19th-century Bengali education reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

[3][8] Work on the cable-stayed bridge started with the construction of the well curb on the Kolkata bank on 3 July 1979.

[10][12] Kona Expressway and Vidyasagar Setu experienced an exponential rise in the volume of traffic over a couple of years.

[7][8][14] Vidyasagar Setu is a cable-stayed bridge, with 121 cables in a fan arrangement, built using steel pylons 127.62 metres (418.7 ft) high.

The difference is in the dead load design concept adopted for this bridge and concreting of the side spans done with support provided by the intermediate trestle.

Pressure grouting was performed to fill the voids between the wire and the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) tubes.

A two tonne tower crane, fixed inside the pylons, lifted the cables into position.

[14]The bridge has been subject to prototype wind tunnel tests at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

These are planned with a semi-circular layout in the form of side wings, which will facilitate easier flow of traffic before the toll plaza on roads leading to the Howrah railway station.

An electronic toll collection system was scheduled to be introduced by 2014, to help improve the flow of traffic across the bridge.