Delhi-Jaipur Expressway project makes headway

New Delhi: Route identification for the ambitious 265 km Delhi-Jaipur Expressway on the line of Yamuna Expressway to Agra has been completed, Road Transport and Highways Minister C P Joshi has said.

“Land alignment (route-mapping) is final. We want an expressway on the PPP (Public-Private-Partnership) model,” Joshi told PTI.

The starting point from the national capital for the expressway, for which the detailed project report has been finalised, would be the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

He said alongside the expressway with controlled access will have a few nodes where real estate hubs would be developed.

“We have outlined alignments for developing real estates,” Joshi said adding the discussions are on with the state governments of Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.

“We have to bring the state governments on board. We have outlined alignments for developing real estate. Investment requirement is not finalised yet but it will have a new finance model,” he said.

Joshi said the project is very much a “practical and pragmatic”.

Asked about the timeline for the project, he said talks are on with the state governments. He does not foresee problems in land acquisition because the requirement is not much. Even for the real estate development, there would be limited number of hubs.

Besides, the coordination with the states is easier because all these are under Congress rules, he said.

Though the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway would not have the same financial model as that of the Yamuna Expressway,it would be on the PPP basis.

Joshi said though the government in 2006-07 had planned to construct 10 expressways but the progress could be made only in two -Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Chandigarh.

However, for the Delhi-Chandigarh, the route alignment is yet to be finalised, he said. “..We are working on it,” he said.  Source>>>