Noida chief puts proposed metro projects on hold - Hindustan Times
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Noida chief puts proposed metro projects on hold

Hindustan Times | By, Noida
May 02, 2017 11:24 AM IST

Officials said that the resources of the authority have been stretched thin as it has failed to recover over Rs15,000 crore in land dues from realtors. Officials said that the authority is staring at a crisis in the near future if it fails to recover its dues.

Noida authority chief executive officer Amit Mohan Prasad said that he will not take up proposed or new metro projects due to a fund crunch.

The 30km metro link is being constructed at a cost of Rs5,533 crore and the Noida and Greater Noida authorities are funding the majority.(Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)
The 30km metro link is being constructed at a cost of Rs5,533 crore and the Noida and Greater Noida authorities are funding the majority.(Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

Officials said that the resources of the authority have been stretched thin as it has failed to recover over Rs15,000 crore in land dues from realtors. Officials said that the authority is staring at a crisis in the near future if it fails to recover its dues.

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In December 2016, the Uttar Pradesh government had approved the proposal of a 15km metro project that connects Noida’s Sector 71 with Greater Noida’s Knowledge Park V. The Noida authority had also proposed an 11km link from Botanic Garden to Sector 142, to connect the interior areas of Noida.

“My focus is on ensuring that the under-construction 30km Noida-Greater Noida Metro link and the 6.8km City Centre to Sector 62 Metro link are finished first. I do not want a new project to be started and then suspended midway due to lack of funds. We will initiate work on a new metro project only after arranging adequate funds for the same,” Prasad said.

Prasad is also the managing director of the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC).

“We will recover our land dues from the defaulters soon. We are planning to meet the developers’ body to discuss options for them to clear the land dues,” Prasad said.

From 2006, the authority had allotted land to developers on an instalment basis. The developers paid 10%-20% of the total land cost at the time of allotment.

“We had Rs3,500 crore of fixed deposits in banks but we ended up spending around Rs2,500 crore on the metro and other infrastructure projects. The remaining Rs1,000 crore will also be spent on development projects. There is a dire need to recover Rs15,000 crore from developers,” Manmohan Mishra, financial controller of the Noida authority, said.

The 30km metro link is being constructed at a cost of Rs5,533 crore and the Noida and Greater Noida authorities are funding the majority.

The NCRPB (NCR Planning Board) is providing a loan of Rs1,587 crore and the public investment board (PIB) is funding Rs1,034 crore for the metro project, which is slated to be ready by 2017-end.

“Only after arranging funds can we think of starting work on two important proposed projects. We hope to recover our land dues soon and fund these metro projects. We do not want to build metro links on credit. We will undertake a project only if we have adequate funds to finish it,” Prasad said.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Vinod Rajput writes on environment, infrastructure, real estate and government policies in Noida and Greater Noida. He has reported on environment and infrastructure in Delhi, Gurgaon and Panchkula in the past.

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