Chilla elevated road budget revised, sent for re-vetting to IIT-Roorkee

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Mumbai, which works as a consultant for such projects, has approved the budget, said officials

The Noida authority on Tuesday said it has finalised the ₹800 crore budget of 5.5km Chilla elevated road, which is proposed to ease traffic congestion on the Delhi-Noida link road that connects Delhi’s Mayur Vihar to Noida Expressway.

The Chilla elevated road construction site in Noida on Tuesday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Mumbai, which works as a consultant for such projects, has approved the budget, said officials.

“The Uttar Pradesh state bridge corporation (UPSBC), a state government agency engaged in the construction work, got the budget vetted from IIT-Mumbai. Now we have also sent the estimate for re-vetting to IIT-Roorkee. Once it approves the budget, we will take the project to the next stage,” said Vijay Rawal, project engineer of the Noida authority.

The authority in November last year rejected the ₹1,076 crore budget claim made by the UPSBC on the ground that the escalation was too high. It also directed the corporation to revise the budget.

“The authority rejected the escalated budget because the revision from the initial cost of ₹605.30 crore to ₹1,076 crore was not justified. The authority ordered revision of the budget and the drawings to reduce the cost,” said a Noida authority official.

The UPSBC has revised the budget several times, which has affected the project. “With the changes in the drawings that involve less steel and other construction material, the cost of this project has come down drastically. In a week, the budget will be given the green signal by IIT Roorkee and we will re-start the work at the site,” said Rawal.

The authority started work on the Chilla elevated road on January 25, 2019, after chief minister Yogi Adityanath laid the foundation stone for the project. The Noida authority in March 2020, in its 200th board meeting, asked its staff to stop work on the Chilla elevated road due to a financial crisis. Incidentally, it was the first time that the board decided to halt work on such a big infrastructure project citing paucity of funds.