Noida e-way likely to become toll road soon

GREATER NOIDA/ NEW DELHI: The free ride on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway is likely to end in the next few months. Sources in the Uttar Pradesh government said the management and maintenance of the 24.5-km expressway was likely to be handed over to the Jaypee group in the coming months after which the private developer can charge a user fee from commuters.

The toll plaza is likely to come up about 500m before the Hindon river crossing from Noida side, after the city authority clears land for the toll gates. Sources said that as per the agreement between Jaypee Group and the state government, the expressway will be handed over from the date the developer starts collecting toll on the Yamuna Expressway. The commercial operation of that expressway, linking Noida and Agra, could start by April.

A Jaypee official has confirmed this, but said they have not yet decided by when tolling on this stretch would start. Sources added that the developer had raised the issue of land required to build the toll plaza, but so far, the government had not sanctioned it.

Officials privy to the government process said the concession agreement for Yamuna expressway, which also covers issues relating to the Noida expressway, clearly mentions that the developer would have to pay back a fixed amount - Rs 330 crore - to the Noida authority for taking over the Noida-Greater Noida link.

This would be paid at the end of 10 years of collecting toll on the Yamuna expressway and the amount will come to the authority in five instalments.

At present, the Noida expressway takes off from Mahamaya flyover and has six lanes. Though a plan has been prepared to widen it to eight lanes, a timeframe has not yet been fixed. The Noida-Greater Noida expressway became operational about a decade ago, but the Noida authority has failed on several counts to make the stretch safe for commuters.

"The authority had made plans to deploy armed security guards on both sides of the expressway alongside recovery vans to help in case of accidents. They also wanted to place CCTV cameras and speed monitors to control errant driving," admitted an official, but little has been done so far.

Currently, the expressway is manned by only six patrol vehicles and six shelters on each carriageway.