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Noida to spend ₹1,000 crore to boost economic activity affected due to Covid-19 lockdown
NOIDA:
NOIDA:
In a bid to boost economic activity in the city amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Noida authority has decided to spend ₹1,000 crore on 274 infrastructure and other development projects. The move will generate work and employment for construction firms, small vendors and daily wage workers left jobless due to the Covid-19 crisis, officials said on Saturday.
In April this year, the authority had decided to finish all formalities related with important developmental work in the first week of June so that the work can be started by mid-June. In May, the authority’s civil and traffic cell departments had conducted all tendering process to rope in construction firms. The officials said that the authority awarded the works to those agencies, which were hired through tendering.
“We have awarded 274 projects to make sure the developmental work is not disrupted during this ongoing crisis. We want to continue repair of all basic civic infrastructure so that the basic amenities are delivered to general public without any interruption,” said Ritu Maheshwari, chief executive officer, Noida authority.
The 274 projects include construction of roads and drains, repair of central verge and other traffic cell projects. Apart from this, the authority has also started developing basic civic facilities in Sector 145, which is a new residential area being developed along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. The basic civic amenities include laying of drainage network, sewage network, parks and other projects, the officials said.
As all developmental projects were halted due to the Covid-19 lockdown for about one-and-a-half months, it also affected the economy and daily wage workers started facing livelihood issue, the officials said.
“Now with this ₹1,000 crore fund, the city will get an economic boost as many will start getting jobs,” said another Noida authority official, requesting anonymity.
The authority had to finish all tendering formalities in May for the financial year 2020-21 after the process got delayed due to the implementation of nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 to prevent the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
