Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has tweaked the funding pattern suggested by DMRC for two proposed metro corridors in the city i.e. Noida Electronic City to Sahibabad and Vaishali to Mohan Nagar, to distribute the financial burden proportionately among all stakeholders.
The proposal was expected to be put up by GDA vice chairperson Kanchan Verma before the state government in Lucknow yesterday (Thursday, 20th February 2020). “From the very onset, we have been saying at all platforms that the funding pattern adopted in Dilshad Garden to New Bus Adda metro corridor, in which GDA had to bear the major cost, will not work as our financial status is not good,” Verma said in a statement.
“Even the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which had recently submitted detailed project reports for the two metro corridors, suggested that the UP government through its agencies bear the major cost, which means the major cost burden will fall on GDA. So, we have tweaked the funding pattern,” she added.
For the Noida Electronic City to Sahibabad corridor, GDA has proposed that the UP government should alone contribute Rs 758 crore of the total estimated cost of Rs 1,517 crore. And the remaining be borne by its other agencies as, GDA Rs 152 crore, GMC Rs 55 crore, the UP Housing Board Rs 97 crore and UPSIDC Rs 19 crore.
Similarly, for Vaishali to Mohan Nagar corridor, the UP Government’s share as suggested by GDA is Rs 904 crore out of the total estimated cost of Rs 1,808 crore, while GDA’s share have been computed to Rs 229 crore, GMC Rs 82 crore, the UP Housing Board Rs 146 crore and UPSIDC Rs 29 crore.
“This way the cost would be proportionately shared by the UP Government, GDA, GMC, the UP Housing Board and UPSIDC. This is doable. We have also suggested that DMRC too contribute in the form of rolling stocks, in the two projects, which it had conveniently omitted in the detailed project reports,” said another official.
“If the state government agrees to the funding pattern suggested by GDA, it will be a win-win for us. We are going to lobby hard on Thursday’s meeting for our proposals,” the official added. The Vaishali-Mohan Nagar metro corridor has been estimated to have a daily ridership of 37,000 while it’s expected to be 30,000 for the Electronic City-Sahibabad corridor.