Sole bidder bags Agra Inner Ring Road project

The road is expected to relieve the city from traffic congestion by linking it to the radial arterial roads and providing quick access to Gwalior and Jaipur roads from Kanpur. The project,pegged at Rs 1,098 crore,is the first to be taken up under the Integrated Urban Rejuvenation Plan (IURP),which the state government had mooted in 2008 to improve urban infrastructure in select cities on public-private-partnership model.

As per the agreement,the developer will have to complete work on the road within 30 months from the date of taking possession of land for the project.

Over 212 hectares land will be required for the project,and the state government will acquire 90 per cent (190 hectares),while the rest will be acquired by Jai Prakash Associates Ltd.

Besides,another 1278.60 hectares will be acquired and given to the developer as “land parcel”. “As the road would be toll-free,the developer is being given this additional land as land parcel to compensate its investment in project and earn profit,” said Arun Kumar Sinha,Principal Secretary,Housing and Urban Planning Department.

The developer will pay compensation against the land acquired for the road and the land parcel. The state government has directed the Agra Development Authority (ADA) to complete the acquisition process at the earliest. The ADA has to provide at least 40 per cent of the total project land to the developer in the first phase. Sinha said the developer would be bound to use the additional lands as per the land-use and government laws.

The bids for the project were invited thrice in 2009,but except Jai Prakash Associates Ltd no one showed interest in the project. A letter of intent was issued to the developer in September.

“A final survey of the land on the proposed route of ring road is underway and the report will be submitted to the government within a week. After that the land acquisition process will be completed,” said Tanvir Zafar Ali,vice-chairman,ADA.