Growth Highways

But it is Hooda’s reasoning that is worth looking at closely. If commuters were to get a smooth ride from Delhi to Gurgaon, instead of waiting two hours on the expressway toll plaza during particularly bad jams, he reckons the value of land in Gurgaon will shoot up—land prices for property 10 minutes away from Delhi, logically, will be a lot higher than for land which can be two hours away. When the metro yellow line between Qutub Minar and Huda City Centre came up in 2010, property prices in residential areas doubled within a year—a lot of this, it is true, could be attributed to other factors as well, but a significant proportion was clearly metro-driven. So, were Hooda to raise circle rates a bit, he may even recoup a large part of the money he pays for the expressway or even part of a metro line. And it’s not just the residents of Gurgaon he’s targeting. If traffic jams ensure industrialists looking to set up factories in the area give it a miss, that’s a huge loss of local taxes, of local employment opportunities and the general boost to the local economy. While NHAI should look at marketing its road projects to cities/state governments, the latter would do well to look at the payback of improving local infrastructure and connectivity.