Apex Court Raps Delhi Government For "Breach” Of Undertaking, Grants 7-Day To Pay Share For RRTS Corridor To Panipat And Alwar

The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, ordered the Delhi government to pay its share for the Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat Regional Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) corridors within a week.

The apex court, in response to a plea filed by the National Capital Regional Transport Corporation Ltd (NCRTC), instructed the Delhi government to adhere to the predetermined payment schedule for these projects, and warned that it could revive a previous order to deduct the money from its advertisement budget in case of default.

NCRTC, mandated for implementing the RRTS project across the National Capital Region, in its plea, has complained about Delhi delaying payment of its share of Rs 100 crore for the Delhi-Alwar corridor and Rs 50 crore for the Delhi-Panipat corridor for the fiscal year 2023-24.

The Delhi government will need to make payments of Rs 2,443 crore and Rs 3,261 crore for the Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat corridors, respectively, until the year 2028.

A bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia rejected the Delhi government's argument that the release of funds depended on the central government's approval of the project. The bench observed that other states involved in the project had already transferred their respective shares in 2019 and 2020.

Appearing for the Delhi government, Senior Advocate S Muralidhar said, there was a budgetary allocation for Rs 150 crore but the payment will be made after the central government clears the two projects.

Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who is the amicus curiae in the case, however, argued that the state had committed to adhering to the agreed-upon schedule and must fulfill its obligation. Singh emphasised that delays in public projects, typically funded through loans, could escalate overall project costs.

Attorney General R Venkataramani, who appeared for the Union government, said the detailed project reports submitted by NCRTC were under consideration and the project would be approved soon.

The two-judge bench, while giving Delhi seven days to make the payment, cautioned against pushing the matter to a point where the court would need to revive its 21 November order.

The Supreme Court on 21 November had directed the Delhi government to “transfer” its advertisement budget for the current year to pay its contribution towards the RRTS project, but held the order in abeyance for a week.

Earlier, the Delhi government had expressed its inability to contribute Rs 415 crore for Delhi-Meerut RRTS project after which the top court had directed it to place on record funds spent on advertisements in the last three years.

The Delhi government was required to contribute Rs 1,180 crore towards its share for the construction of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor. Out of this, it had paid Rs 265 crore as the first instalment in March 2019 and Rs 500 crore in the second installment. It was only on 24 November, when the Delhi government issued a sanction order for the remaining amount of Rs 415 crore.

Funding Constraints

The 82-km-long Delhi-Meerut corridor is one of the three priority corridors planned for implementation in the the National Capital Region (NCR) in the first phase.

The other two corridors include the 198-km stretch of Delhi-Gurugram-SNB (Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behror Urban Complex)-Alwar and the 103-km Delhi-Panipat stretch. Both these project are currently under consideration and yet to be approved by the the Public Investment Board (PIB).

According to a written reply in Rajya Sabha on 13 March 2023, the Delhi government has refused to provide financial support for the Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat RRTS Corridor.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in its reply, said that the Detailed project reports (DPRs) with approval and financial commitment of the Haryana government for the Delhi-Panipat and approval with financial commitment of Haryana and Rajasthan for Delhi-SNB RRTS corridors have been received.

“However, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) has not agreed to provide financial support for Delhi-SNB and Delhi-Panipat RRTS corridors,” it said.

The RRTS — a brainchild of the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) — was first mooted in 2012 to de-congest the roads and bring down pollution in Delhi, while ensuring high-speed connectivity between the Capital and its satellite towns Panipat in Haryana, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and Alwar in Rajasthan.

The project is jointly funded by multilateral institutions, and by the centre and state governments, with the states contributing in proportion to infrastructure being developed in their territory.

For example, the Rs 31,632 crore Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor involves a 20 per cent contribution by the Centre, while the states of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh are contributing 3.5 per cent and 16.5 per cent respectively.