Revised DPR submitted for Metro link from Noida Sector 62 to Sahibabad
The first DPR had estimated the project cost at ₹1,517 crore, and the revised estimated cost in the new DPR stands at ₹1,873.31 crore, an escalation of ₹356 crore, said GDA officials
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Monday submitted the revised detailed project report (DPR) for the Metro link from Noida’s Sector 62 (Electronic City) to Sahibabad in Ghaziabad, the officials of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) said, adding that the cost in the revised DPR has increased by about ₹356 crore.
The authority last month had asked the DMRC to revise the previous DPR after the first one ran into funding issues at the state level, said GDA sources. The first DPR had estimated the project cost at ₹1,517 crore, and the revised estimated cost in the new DPR stands at ₹1,873.31 crore.
The proposed Metro route aims to link Noida with Sahibabad, where a multimodal interchange hub will come up at the Sahibabad station of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).
“The revised DPR has been submitted to GDA. This will now be taken to the board and thereafter to the state government. The revised report has proposed a funding pattern of 20% by the Centre and the rest (80%) by Uttar Pradesh government. The state government will decide the further funding breakup and the share that different agencies involved will have to bear,” said Rajesh Kumar Singh, secretary, GDA.
“The GDA is currently facing a fund crunch. Hence, we have proposed that the 80% of the project cost be borne by GDA and UP Awas Vikas, besides a few other agencies. A final call on this will be taken by the state government,” Singh said.
The revised DPR stated that construction of the proposed Metro link will require 7,690.10 square metres of private land and 19,001.2 square metres of government land.
In the revised report, the DMRC has proposed five stations for the 5.017km link. The stations have been proposed at Vaibhav Khand, near DPS Indirapuram; Shakti Khand, Vasundhara Sector 7, and Sahibabad.
The previous DPR had proposed a similar length, five stations and a similar funding pattern for the project. The major revision, GDA sources said, was is the escalation of project cost.
In January 2020, DMRC had submitted two project DPRs to the GDA -- one of ₹1,517 crore for the Sector 62 to Sahibabad route, and the other of ₹1,808.22 crore for the Vaishali to Mohan Nagar route.
After much deliberations, the authority in 2023 decided to go ahead with Noida Sector 62 to Sahibabad route.
But then the project ran into rough weather; the state government denied funds for the link in January 2023. Later. in May 2023, the state again declined the authority’s request for 50% funding for the proposed metro link.
“To arrange its share of funds, the GDA may consider obtaining external loans as they did for the Hindon elevated road and also for paying additional land compensation to farmers of Madhuban Bapudham housing scheme,” said a GDA official, asking not to be named.
Residents, meanwhile, said they have been waiting since several years to get metro connectivity.
“With the revised DPR, we expect that the local agencies and the state government will expedite the project and work at a fast pace to actualise the metro project. This will not only benefit local commuters of Ghaziabad and Noida but also provide us access to RRTS,” said UB Garg, president of ‘Varishth Nagrik Samaj, Vasundhara’, an umbrella association of residents and senior citizens.
Residents of Vasundhara in December, 2023 held a relay fast and raised several demands including expediting the metro link.
At present, Ghaziabad has Delhi metro’s Blue Line stations at Kaushambi and Vaishali and another eight stations on the metro’s Red Line network.