Ghaziabad: 25% cess on constructions around stations of RRTS project

Officials of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) said that anyone taking up constructions in the SDAs or the influence zones along the RRTS corridor will have to pay up special cess which will be 25% over and above the regular development charges

Any construction, be it commercial, residential or other, will be a costly affair under the seven influence zones and special development areas (SDAs) which have been defined around the stations and the alignment of the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project.

Of the 82km RRTS corridor from Delhi to Meerut, a 17km stretch is getting developed from Sahibabad to Duhai in Ghaziabad. (Sakib Ali/HT)

Officials of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) said that anyone taking up constructions in the SDAs or the influence zones along the RRTS corridor will have to pay up special cess which will be 25% over and above the regular development charges.

“The proposal for the special cess/charges has been discussed at the state government level and a notification will soon be issued. In Modinagar and Muradnagar, the authority charges ₹1,200 per square metres as development fee while it is ₹3,400 per square metres for the Ghaziabad city area. So, the special charges will be 25% over and above the development rate,” said Asheesh Shivpuri, authority’s chief architect and town planner.

The Centre as well as the GDA has already notified the influence zones and SDAs.

According to the officials, the influence zones will be 1.5km radius zones around the seven RRTS stations being developed at Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, Muradnagar, Modinagar (South) and Modinagar (North). Likewise, the two SDAs have also been defined at Guldhar and Duhai on the Delhi-Meerut Road along the RRTS alignment and will have an area of 250 hectares and 400 hectares, respectively.

Under the two types of zones, the GDA will permit mixed land use constructions with commercial and residential set-ups.

“Since the influence zones and SDAs have been notified, the map clearances will be done through the permission of the authority, and any such constructions taken up alongside the Delhi-Meerut Road will need prior approval of the NCR Transport Corporation (NCRTC) which is developing the RRTS project,” Shivpuri added.

The NCRTC is using the median of the road for construction of the RRTS project.

The NCRTC is developing the 82km RRTS corridor from Delhi to Meerut, and one of its parts, a 17km stretch called as priority section, is getting developed from Sahibabad to Duhai in Ghaziabad. This stretch will become operational in 2023 while the entire 82km route will be commissioned in March 2025. The entire 82km corridor of the project is pegged at ₹30,274 crore.