The Jaypee Group today said it will invest Rs 70,000 crore in the 1,047 km Ganga Expressway within next five years, stating it is confident of getting necessary clearances for the project within next two months.
The Allahabad High Court in May last year had restrained the diversified business group from proceeding on the project, directing it to obtain prior environmental clearances.
"The Ganga Expressway project is ready and all the alignment works have been approved. We have surveyed all the villages and we will obtain all environmental clearances in the next two months," Jaypee Group Founder Chairman Jaiprakash Gaur told reporters here.
Jaypee Group firm Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corp had signed an agreement with Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) in 2008 for constructing an eight-lane expressway connecting Greater Noida and Ballia.
If the company gets all the necessary certificates as per planned, the construction will start from next year and it will be completed in a four-year time, Gaur said.
Giving details of the proposed project, group firm Jaypee Infratech Director-in-Charge Sameer Gaur said, "We have sorted out all the issues... We will acquire 33,000 acres of land for the project, of which the expressway will alone require 28,000 acres."
The Ganga Expressway will reportedly affect over 1,000 villages and the group is yet to discuss rehabilitation issues with the state government as about 70 per cent of the land earmarked is agricultural.
As per the official website of the project, UP Chief Minister Mayawati has announced major sops for the farmers whose land will be lost to the project, including "free residential properties, upwards of Rs 35,000 cash and quota allotment in jobs and residential properties."
On the investment front, Sameer Gaur said, "We will require about Rs 70,000 crore for the entire project, which will include land acquisition cost." Out of the total amount, the National Capital-based company will invest Rs 35,000-38,000 crore in constructing the expressway, he added.
When asked how the project will be funded, Gaur said, "We have not decided yet, but mostly it will be through internal accruals and debt."
