Roadmin exploring financing options for Del-Jaipur Exp way

A month after the PMO asked Road Transport and Highways (RTH) Ministry to move a Cabinet note for Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, the Ministry is exploring options like real estate development along the stretch to finance it as land cost alone has trebled on the back of a new law.
The cost of Rs 11,750 project which included provision for land acquisition is likely to shoot up by at least Rs 30,000 crore as the land cost has trebled after the new land acquisition law coming into force last month, a senior Road Ministry official said.
"The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has informed us that the cost of land alone for 272 km expressway would be about Rs 18,000 crore from the estimated Rs 6,000 crore," the official said.

The development comes barely a month after the Prime Minister's Office asked the RTH Ministry to move a Cabinet note for the project saying it would be the first such highway to be built by the central government.
"The Delhi-Jaipur Expressway is one of the announcements of the Prime Minister in November, 2013 which has been taken up as a priority project of the government. As on date, there is no expressway built by central government and Delhi-Jaipur Expressway would be the first," a PMO statement had said.
The official said the Ministry is exploring ways for financing the project which may include development of real estate along the stretch or building it around the existing highway.

The Ministry has sought advise on possible financing modes from stake-holder states - Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana, before proceeding on the project, the official added.

An expressway is a controlled-access highway designed exclusively for high speed traffic.
The Road Ministry has estimated the project cost for the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway at Rs 11,750 crore, including land acquisition and pre-construction activities.
RTH Minister Oscar Fernandes had earlier said that unless a major portion of the land is handed over in the construction of the proposed Delhi-Jaipur expressway, financial institutions could shy away from funding the project.
"Delhi-Jaipur Expressway -- the work on this project is on, but unless 60 per cent of the land is not handed over, the work cannot start because the financial institution will not lend money," he had said.

The starting point in Delhi for the expressway, in all probability, would be the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in 2006-07, planned to construct 10 expressways but progress could be made only in two, namely Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Chandigarh.
The government had accorded approval for building 1,000 km of expressways in the country in October, 2011.
The government will build seven expressways under National Highways Development Project VI.
The remaining five projects are - 400 km Vadodara-Mumbai, 66 km Delhi-Meerut, Delhi-Agra, 277 km Bangalore-Chennai and 334 km Kolkata-Dhanbad.