Delay in starting the implementation of the Regional Rapid Transport System’s first corridor from Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut is increasing project costs by at least ₹100 crore each month, said sources at project implementation agency National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC).

The project, which was slated to begin construction in July, remains stuck in a political feud between the Centre and Delhi, with the Kejriwal government asking the Centre to bear Delhi’s share of costs, and also objecting to the plan for an elevated instead of an underground station at Sarai Kale Khan.

The proposal states that the RRTS is expected to increase public transport share on the corridor from the current 37% to around 63%, contributing to the Capital’s fight against congestion and pollution.

The delay is causing costs to increase by at least ₹3-4 crore per day, sources at NCRTC told The Hindu, adding that as a general rule of thumb escalations are considered to be about 5% per annum for infrastructure projects in India.

The estimated completion cost of the 82-km stretch is ₹31,902 crore. Urban transport experts agreed with that assessment.

“Normal escalation of costs for any such project is at least 6% per year. Apart from the project cost itself, there is also the implied cost of delaying the social and economic returns of the project,” said Subodh Jain, former engineering member of the Railway Board and current adviser to the Maharashtra Metro Rail Transport Corporation.

The NCRTC said it is trying to curb these costs by beginning work on pre-construction activity, such as detailed design, technical surveys, land procurement, road widening and utility diversion.

“Being a capital intensive project, cost escalations risk due to delays does exist. The NCRTC team is actively pursuing the pre-construction works so as to minimise such risk,” said Sudhir Kumar Sharma, group general manager for strategic planning at NCRTC.

The Delhi government’s share of project costs is ₹1,138 crore.

However, in a July 2018 letter to the Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said his government was ready to grant in-principle approval for the project but did not have adequate finances to meet the cost.

He urged the Centre to bear Delhi’s share of the costs.

In October, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had also raised the objection that the RRTS interchange station planned at Sarai Kale Khan should be underground rather than elevated as it will delay implementation of the ISBT redevelopment plan there.

Mr. Puri had responded to these concerns in a letter to Mr. Kejriwal on October 26 saying that changing the design to make the projects underground will increase capital costs by ₹4,000 crore, apart from operation and maintenance costs.

If the RRTS station is underground, it will have to be dug first, further delaying the redevelopment plan, said the letter, which The Hindu has seen a copy of.

Mr. Puri suggested that the original proposal will allow an intra-city bus terminal — which is part of the proposed redevelopment — to be located underneath the elevated RRTS station.

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