Public Private Partnership: The Yamuna Expressway Project

Background:
The Yamuna Expressway Project was conceived by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2001, in a move to open up tourism and avenues for Industrial and Urban development of the region. The main objective was to improve the connectivity of the National Capital Region, to improve tourist attraction of one of India’s most precious monument, the Taj Mahal at Agra. For the same purpose, the Government of U.P constituted the Taj Expressway Industrial Development Authority (TEA) in April 2001, under U.P Industrial Area Development Act. The Yamuna Expressway project included building of new six lane roads, extendable up to eight lanes thereby reducing the travel time to only 100 minutes, which was earlier nine to ten travelling hours by road. The total length from Zero Point Greater Noida up to Agra is 165.537 KM. The total cost of the project was Rs 13,000 crore. The Yamuna expressway was inaugurated on 9th August 2012 and made open to public. It provides a good connectivity with the existing NH-2 and NH-91 thus forming a good network of road, fostering all round development in a planned manner for commercial, industrial, institutional, amusement and residential purposes.

Responsibilities of TEA:
1. Execution of Yamuna Expressway.

2. Acquisition of land for construction of Expressway and area development.

3. Preparation of Zonal plan/Master plan for planned development along the expressway.

4. Development of drainage, feeder roads, electrification and other facilities in the area.

Objectives of the YEIDA:
1. Safer and shorter travel from Delhi to Agra and to increase connectivity to the region from Noida to Greater Noida, thus opening the area on the eastern bank of the river for industrial and urban development.

2. To develop the adjoining areas and provide them with closer access to the townships and commercial centres on the eastern side of the Yamuna.

3. To provide faster moving corridor to minimize the travel time.

At the commencement of the project, approximately 1182 villages in 6 districts were notified under the YEIDA. The districts were Gautam Budh Nagar, Bulandshahar, Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura and Agra.

The Concession agreement:
The project concessionaire is Jaypee Infratech Ltd. (JIL), set up in 2007. The Special Purpose Vehicle set up as per the Concession agreement, signed on 7th February 2003, by the Jaypee Group for planning, investing, implementing, operating and maintaining the expressway. Features of the agreement are as below:

1. Concessionaire has rights for collecting tolls during
concession period of 36 years.

2. Land development rights of 25 million square meters approximately alongside the Express Way.

3. Land including 100 meters for the Expressway at five or more locations of which one shall be Greater Noida/Noida with an area of 5 million sq. meters alongside the Expressway for commercial, amusement, industrial, institutional and residential development would be offered on acquisition cost on lease for the period of 90 years.

4. Land for development as well as Expressway transferred to Concessionaire on acquisition cost plus lease rent of Rs 100/- per hectare per year.

5. Cost of construction to be borne by the Concessionaire.

Contractors:
The Build Operate Transfer (BOT) Contract was awarded to Jaiprakash Industries, later merged into Jaypee Cement Ltd. (JCL), in 2003.

Jaypee Cement, now known as Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL), flagship company of the Jaypee group, is an infrastructural industrial conglomerate in India.

Scope of Work:
1. Project Management Consultants- LEA Associates South Asia Private (LASA), Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats (ICT), Scott Wilson India (SW) and Consulting Engineering Services India (CES).

2. Construction of Infrastructure- construction of minor bridges, earthen embankment, car track and vehicular underpasses, was given to Brahmaputra Infraproject in 2009, worth Rs 4.3 billion.

3. Supply of toll management systems- In 2011, Efkon was awarded this contract to cover 129 toll lanes of the expressway.

Development Phases:
The development took place in three phases-
1. Phase I: Expressway Stretch between Greater Noida and proposed Taj International Aviation Hub (near village Jewar on the southern tip of District Gautam Budh Nagar).

2. Phase II: Expressway Stretch between proposed Taj International Aviation Hub and an intermediate destination between proposed Taj International Aviation Hub and Agra.

3. Phase III: Expressway Stretch between intermediate destination and Agra.

Features of the Yamuna Expressway:

The expressway also provides for rest area with facilities of parking, restaurants, refreshment kiosks along the way, motels, automobile repair shops, payphones, shelters etc. It has aesthetic landscaping and plantations alongside its way.

The total revenue collection for Jaypee Infratech for the financial year beginning 2012-13 is estimated to be Rs 58.77 crore.

Observations:
The Yamuna Expressway project has been a boon for real estate developers, particularly in the areas of Noida and Greater Noida, as the land availability in these regions has also been limited, in the past half of the year. Along with the upcoming project such as Jaypee Sports City project, F1 track etc., this project will bring in a new wave of development. In 2012, traffic was not much on the stretch, because people relatively chose the travel on the conventional routes, but, with the peripheral developments and infrastructure growth, more traffic is expected on the expressway. But, it is surely one of the biggest accomplishments in infrastructure growth in India and testifies the efficiency of PPP models for developments.

Further Information: Visit http://www.yamunaexpresswayauthority.com

–Prepared By: Rishika Mishra, CIRC