New chief of metro rail body to speed up Noida-G Noida link

IAS officer Santosh Yadav took charge as the managing director of Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) on Thursday.

Indian Administrative Service officer Santosh Yadav took charge as the managing director of Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) on Thursday. He will oversee the under construction 30km Noida-Greater Noida Metro link.

Santosh Yadav took over from Rama Raman, chairman of Noida authority, on Thursday. (Sunil Ghosh / HT Photo)

Since NMRC came into existence in November 2014, Rama Raman, chairman of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna E-way authorities, served as the MD of NMRC.

After taking charge, Yadav reviewed the progress of the under construction metro link, which is expected to be ready before its deadline of March 2017.

NMRC executive director Saumya Srivastava and the Greater Noida authority chief executive officer (CEO) Deepak Agarwal also took part in the meeting.

“The MD directed the staff to work in close coordination with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to fast track the Noida-Greater Noida Metro link,” PD Upadhyay, general manager of NMRC, said.

During the review, Yadav asked his staff to sort out minor issues quickly so that DMRC, which is undertaking the construction, does not face any hurdles.

Yadav stayed at the NMRC office for an hour before leaving for Tamil Nadu, where he is deputed to conduct state assembly elections. He will stay in Tamil Nadu from April 29 to May 17.

NMRC officials said that they are likely to sign an agreement with DMRC for maintenance and operation of Noida-Greater Noida link once it is ready.

“If the agreement is signed, DMRC will oversee operations and maintenance of this project for three to four years. This agreement is likely to be signed once new MD is back from his election duty,” an NMRC official said.

A 1995 batch IAS officer, Yadav was the vice-chairman of the Ghaziabad Development Authority till May 2015 after which he served as the secretary to the chief minister. Yadav had also joined as CEO of the Yamuna Expressway authority in June 2015 but was transferred after a brief stint.

Before joining NMRC, Yadav served as the resident commissioner of Uttar Pradesh in Delhi.