There are some things you can’t quantify – which is the weekly frustration of travelling on NH-8 during peak hours…the time I lose (which I would have spent with my family), the dust I inhale, the damage the rickety roads cause to my car, and the frustrated mindset with which I reach home / office.

But here’s a very simple assessment of the situation from the economic point of view:

No. of car trips on NH-8 daily : over 1,00,000 (from a TOI article of 2005, this number might be much greater now) – http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1255299.cms

Peak hour trips = 70,000

Cars/vehicles on petrol = 65%, Diesel = 35%

On average, distance covered during one trip = 40 kms

Again, a conservative estimate of the extra fuel spent per trip = 1 L of petrol/diesel (for simplicity sake, I’m not considering different mileages for petrol and diesel engine)

Fuel loss cost per day for pertrol vehicles = 1 L * 0.65 * 70000 * 45 Rs/L = approx Rs. 2.1 million

Fuel loss cost per day for diesel vehicles = 1 L * 0.35 * 70000 * 34 Rs/L = approx Rs.800,000

Daily loss is to the tune of INR 3 million – this is a very conservative estimate.

Monthly loss – INR 90 million

Delay in this project – 20 months (deadline was June 2005) = Rs. 1800 million

Multiplying this figure by 1.5 (to offset the conservative estimates) = Rs. 2700 million

Total cost of this project = Rs. 550 crores = Rs. 5500 million (http://www.srei.com/media_del.htm)

So besides the non-quantifiable factors, fuel costs alone have cost 50% of this project’s value.

Other points:

1) Govt has a neat 16-24% share in petrol / diesel revenues

2) India’s oil import bill is over Rs. 1000 billion (this is a mere 0.3% of it – so not a big deal for the big babus)

3) Full financial disclosure from NHAI, Jaypee DSC (contractors) would reveal at least100-150 people who have become millionaires (if not billionaires) during execution of this project.

4) Noida toll bridge was constructed at a cost of Rs. 4.08 billion = Rs. 4080 million (within time, and with a superior quality of construction) http://www.ilfsindia.com/group_co.asp?gmchild=8