PWD plans to hand over south and north Delhi flyovers, road stretches to Indian Oil for maintenance

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) The Public Works Department is likely to hand over six road stretches, including five flyovers in south Delhi, to Indian Oil Corporation limited (IOCL) and a north Delhi road to Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), an official said on Saturday.

Under the initiative, private firms can adopt public infrastructure -- taking responsibility for its maintenance, beautification, and cleanliness -- in return for limited advertising rights on the adopted structures.

"A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed with IOCL for three years, during which flyovers and road stretches will be taken care of by them under the CSR initiative," a senior PWD officer told PTI.

This includes Chirag Dilli, Panchsheel flyover, Mukarba Chowk, IIT Delhi flyover and Punjabi Bagh flyover and Aurobindo Marg Road, the official added.

According to PWD officials, an MoU has also been signed with DIAL company, which also manages the IGI Airport, to carry out repair and maintenance for three years of Veer Banda Bairagi Marg in north Delhi under the heavily congested Rani Jhansi Marg.

According to officials, recently a meeting was held between the company representatives and PWD Minister Parvesh Verma, where directions were given to the department to define modalities of the plan.

In July this year, a decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Verma to prepare large infrastructure proposals that align with the Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

The shift in policy comes amid concerns over delays and cost overruns in previous public infrastructure projects due to funding limitations. One of those projects is the 'adopt a flyover' project based on the PPP model for cleanliness and better care of road infrastructure, officials added. PTI SSM ANU MNK MNK