GDA agrees to fund ₹30,274-cr RRTS corridor

The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has agreed to fund-raising proposals for the rapid rail corridor and also for three of four value-capturing proposals from the NCR Transport Corporation. This is being implemented in areas managed by GDA's administration, said vice-chairperson Kanchan Verma. The proposal is being sent to Lucknow for the state government's approval. Prior to this, NCRTC had suggested heads under which funds could be raised for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor and the agency has now accepted NCRTC's proposal to hike stamp duty by 1% in areas under GDA's jurisdiction. The other proposal that GDA accepted was to increase purchasable floor area ratio (FAR) in the RRTS influence zone. The RRTS corridor's nearest station from Indirapuram will be Sahibabad, but unlike Indirapuram, which is a GDA area, Vaishali and Vasundhara are not. Of the total RRTS project cost of ₹30,274 crore, the UP government will bear ₹6,500 crore. The 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will originate at Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi and terminate at Modipuram in Meerut and will have eight stations — Sahibabad, New Bus Adda, Guldhar, Duhai, Muradnagar, Modinagar (South) and Modinagar (North). High-speed trains are expected to bring the Delhi-Meerut ride down to 55 minutes.