Two new expressways will offer relief to Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, personally monitoring the completion of the eastern and western peripheral expressways, will certainly help in expediting these crucial road projects. In a move to meet the deadline for completing these sensitive construction activities, his intervention was long awaited. Touching the three States of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the undergoing road projects will roll out a new era in ease of doing business and lessen the mounting traffic congestion around the capital city. Apart from the Cabinet Secretary, the three Chief Secretaries of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi will also be actively involved in overseeing the project. This indeed will ensure smooth and speedy work, which was long delayed for almost a decade. Unlike the UPA Government era, when an average of only 5,000 kilometres or seven kilometres per day of road projects were awarded, the Modi Government promised to build 30 kilometres of roads each day in 2015. This shows how aggressively the current NDA regime at the Centre wants to either revamp the existing road networks or build new highways for the country. Also, media reports say that during the UPA regime, the Government miserably failed to attract large investments from foreign firms for completing many ongoing as well as new projects in the road sector. Moreover, the road projects were badly hamstrung by the massive economic slowdown since 2012 and this was not adequately handled by the earlier Government.
The two expressways, which were about 135 kilometres long, were originally conceived in 2006, following an apex court order to route out the non-Delhi bound traffic. But then, under the traditional ‘build, operate and transfer' (BOT) model, the UPA Government failed to accomplish it. With the coming of Modi to power, the Government introduced the much tried and tested model of construction, called the ‘engineering, procurement and construction' (EPC) model.
Unlike the previous BOT model, the new one offers the construction activities to the private developer, but funded by the Government agencies. Further, the Government also introduced a new hybrid ‘annuity model' in 2015, under which it shares the project costs with the private developer in an arrangement of 40: 60 ratio. The attempt to resuscitate the roadways under this Government is gradually showing results and it is targeting to lay down 40 kilometres of roads every day for 2016-17. With the completion of the eastern peripheral expressways and the western peripheral expressways, the three States will receive a major facelift. An overall uptick in the road construction activities is a positive sign for this sector under the Modi Government. However, this particular project will also possibly add to reducing the burden of pollution in the capital city to a great extent. Also, the EPC model of construction is paying dividends across the country and deserves to be promoted.