Proposed elevated corridor on Greenfield E-way may lead to budget overrun, project may miss deadline
NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) has sought permission from the Union Surface Transport Ministry and the state government to build an 8.55 km long elevated corridor on the upcoming Greenfield Expressway project to connect Faridabad with Jewar International Airport in Greater Noida. This corridor may require additional funds of Rs 800 crore. The initial budget of the 31.5 km long expressway is Rs 1,660.50 crore. It is being told that the June 2025 deadline for completion of the e-way project is about to end, as only 20 to 25 percent of the work has been completed so far.
“The survey for the construction of the elevated corridor is underway, but work on it will start after approval from authorities including the Union surface transport ministry and the state government,” said Dheeraj Singh, project director of NHAI. He said the additional cost of Rs 800 crore is proposed to be shared by NHAI and the state government. He said the deadline was set to be extended by more than a year.
Work on the project, announced in August 2021, began in June 2023. This expressway, known as the spur package under the Bharatmala project, will start from Sector 65 of Ballabhgarh city and end at Dayanatpur village near Jewar in UP. It will pass through several villages in the district including Chandawali, Sotai, Behbalpur, Phaphunda, Panhera Khurd, Narhawali, Mahamadpur, Hirapur, Mohana and Chhaysa before crossing Yamuna and KGP Expressway. About 22 kilometers of Greenfield Expressway falls in Faridabad. The six-lane expressway aims to strengthen the transportation network on the Faridabad-Jewar corridor and boost economic growth.
Greenfield Expressway
The project may take at least 18 more months, as about 75 percent of the work is still to be completed
The proposed elevated corridor will connect Faridabad with Jewar International Airport in Greater Noida.
Possibility of increase of Rs 800 crore in e-way budget
A time period of two years has been fixed for its completion, it is being built on hybrid annuity mode, according to which 40 per cent of the cost will be borne by NHAI and 60 per cent by the company that has been allotted the tender. This expressway will provide direct connectivity between Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and Jewar Airport, besides providing access to KGP Expressway.
However, the progress of work on this e-way was affected by the agitation of residents of several villages, who staged a strike for 380 days demanding an access point to the expressway near Mohana village. Though the agitation ended on October 30, the pace of work on the e-way was not enough to meet the June 2025 deadline, said an official on condition of anonymity. It is claimed that the project could take at least 18 months, as about 75 percent of the work is still to be done. It is believed that early resolution of technical and budget issues due to design changes involving construction of the elevated corridor will help speed up the work.
