Noida-Ghaziabad blue line metro proposal gets a boost with fund-sharing plan

GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) and the UP Housing Board have agreed to
a 50:50 fund-sharing formula to extend metro’s Blue Line from Noida to Ghaziabad, the preferred
solution after a long search for the piece of puzzle that serves best the connectivity grid of one of the
busiest parts of NCR.
The extension will see the Dwarka Sector 21-Noida Electronic City corridor being extended across the Delhi-Meerut Expressway via Indirapuram and Vaishali to Sahibabad in Ghaziabad. This extension is also important for transition between the metro and Rapid Rail, which has a station at Sahibabad. The other arm of the Blue Line — Dwarka to Vaishali — will also have an interface with Rapid Rail, but at Anand Vihar in Delhi. The Vaishali station, incidentally, is a short distance from Rapid Rail’s Sahibabad station on the same Link Road.

Fund-sharing disagreements between agencies has affected the proposed metro extension’s progress to a large extent. According to an earlier plan, the UP government was supposed to bear 50% of the project
cost of Rs 1,517 crore, while the Centre was to fund 20%. Agencies such as GDA, the Housing Board and the municipal corporation were to bear the remaining 30% of the cost. This plan, however, was eventually rejected by the state government. According to the revised formula, the state government, through the GDA and the Housing Board, will bear 80% of the cost and make equal contributions. The Centre will fund the remaining 20%. Officials said a meeting on the new funding pattern was recently held between the GDA and Housing Board. As of now, Delhi Metro is preparing a fresh report on the route from Electronic City to Sahibabad.

“The project cost is likely to be Rs 1,517 crore. We are now waiting for a fresh DPR from Delhi Metro,”
said Ghaziabad district magistrate RK Singh, also the GDA vice-chairperson. Asked about the new funding pattern, he said, “Much of the corridor is likely to pass through Indirapuram township, which is administered by GDA, and Vasundhara, which is maintained by the Housing Board. So, it is only logical that these two agencies make equal contributions.” GDA, which is reeling from a cash crunch, is planning to take a loan from the NCR Planning Board to fund its share. “We are already running an Rs 800-crore loan for the Hindon Elevated Road project. Now that we have
cleared 90% of that amount, we are planning to take another Rs 500 crore for the metro extension project,” said Singh.

“We hope they will not decline our request for a fresh loan. After all, we have a good track record of repayment. We will also urge the state government to stand as a guarantor for us,” he added.