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Private player to get Ganga Expressway contract

LUCKNOW: The contract for building the 1,000-km-long Ganga Expressway project from Noida to Ballia in Uttar Pradesh would be awarded to the private developer who has bid the minimum development rights as well as lowest demand of land value.

The Bids Evaluation Committee of the U.P. Expressway Development Authority (UPEDA) finalised the proposals of five bidders late on Sunday night. The bidders are Gammon India and Others (Consortium), Unitech Limited, Zoom Developers (Consortium), Reliance Energy ( Consortium) and J. P. Associates. A total of 14 bids were presented by the private developers. The Evaluation Committee examined the other submission, including bank guarantee and pre-qualification bid, and price proposals of the bidders before finalising their names.

Industrial Development Commissioner Atul Kumar Gupta told newspersons on Monday that the proposals have been presented to the Evaluation Committee under the Chief Secretary, Prashant Kumar Mishra, and the winner’s name would be announced after the Cabinet nod.

To be developed under the public-private partnership formula, the mammoth project involves an investment of Rs. 25,000 crore to 30,000 crore, to be funded entirely by the private developer. Mr. Gupta said a 35-year concession period would be given to the developer, who will however be allowed to levy toll tax on rates decided in the draft concession agreement.

Sixteen land parcels, comprising waste land, flood-affected land and land unfit for agricultural use, along the banks of the Ganga have been identified by the State Government. These carry a fixed circle rate of land. As per the proposals finalised by the Bids Committee, the lowest land value was quoted at Rs.293 crore and the maximum at Rs.593 crore. The private group which had quoted the lowest land value has asked for 30,000 acres of land.

The Industrial Development Commissioner said of the total land required by the bidder, nearly 20,000 acres is in Patiali Tehsil, about 5 km from the riverfront in Etah district. With a circle rate of Rs.9000 per acre, 60 per cent of the 20,000 acres is flood affected, one-third is waste land and single cropping pattern is followed in the remaining acres, Mr Gupta said.

As compared to this, the circle rate of the land in Meja Tehsil of Allahabad (included in the 30,000 acres) is Rs.3 lakh per hectare.

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