State to seek environment clearance from Union ministry

The last application sent by the developer,Jaypee Group,is pending with the Centre for over a year now. In absence of environment clearance,the group had withdrawn Rs 1,000 crore bank guarantee given for the project in January this year.

However,despite withdrawing the guarantee,the concession agreement signed between the state government and Jaypee Group is still valid as the group had made it clear that they would submit this guarantee whenever asked by the government.

The concession agreement between Jaiprakash Associates Ltd and Uttar Pradesh government,requires the developer to obtain all necessary clearances from different government authorities. But the new government has asked the UPEIDA to obtain environment clearance in this project by making necessary amendments in the earlier agreement. The UPEIDA would soon send a fresh proposal to the Union Environment and Forests Ministry.

“As per the clause 5.1.4 of the concession agreement,concessionaire (Jaypee group) is required to obtain all the necessary permits. However,this clause would have to be amended in case we have to send the fresh proposal from our end to the Centre,” said a senior official.

The project was announced by Mayawati on her 52 Birthday on March 15,2008 and the project was given to Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) after a tender process. Since the project would require large amount of fertile land on the bank of Ganga,it was mired in controversy since the very beginning.

This expressway will connect Greater Noida to Ballia,thus ensuring high speed connectivity between the Eastern and Western boundaries of Uttar Pradesh. The eight-lane expressway will connect 17 districts of the state from Gautam Bhudh Nagar to Ballia,covering districts like Bulandshahr,Aligarh,Hardoi,Rae Bareli,Varanasi,Mirzapur and Allahabad.

Though,there were speculations about UP Government starting a fresh tender process for the project as Jaypee Group had withdrawn the security money,a senior official refuted it saying: “There is no such move as of now and the earlier agreement stands even today. Since,it was cleared through state cabinet only the cabinet has the right to cancel the earlier agreement.”