As the cost of land acquisition rises, there is need to lower the cost of road construction, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on his visit to Mohana, which lies at one end of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway – a six-lane national highway aimed at getting heavy vehicle traffic out of Delhi.
“This is the first project where the cost of land acquisition has crossed the project construction cost,” Gadkari said at a conference on a stretch being constructed by Hyderabad-based Gayatri Projects, adding that one option was land pooling, which his ministry would consider, as had been done in Surat and Amaravati. “Overall, an average 60 per cent of work has been done. We have spent ₹5,900 crore on acquiring land, while ₹4,418 crore has been spent on construction,” he said.
The Eastern Peripheral Expressway will also be connected with the Yamuna Expressway and Aligarh-Palwal Expressway. “We have agreed to connect Yamuna Expressway to this access-controlled expressway, and also Aligarh-Palwal. We have asked the Uttar Pradesh government to help us acquire land,” the Minister said.
Gadkari said this could become one of the fastest projects to be built, which is expected to be completed by the year-end although he would like the project to be completed by August 15.
“With the GST coming from July 1, we are trying to shift the warehouses from within Delhi to stretches along the highways,” he added.
Concrete pavers
Gadkari said six high-quality concrete pavers were being used by contractors in the expressway.
On the funding aspect, he said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was trying to raise bonds abroad and there was “a huge response” in a recent roadshow.“We can raise more funds, but there are RBI restrictions on not raising over ₹5,000 crore at one time,” he said.
The Minister said they would not want to raise funds at costs beyond 5.5 to 6 per cent. “We have enough funds from LIC. I have been asking NHAI to spend as much in acquiring land.”
Responding to questions regarding farmer concerns, he said there would be service lanes, and many underpasses were being built where farmers have land on both sides.
Regarding compensation, Gadkari said that the compensation that farmers are getting is higher than the market rates. “Some people are demanding compensation under the new Act and we are trying to accommodate as much is possible,” he added.