NEW DELHI: The National Highways Authority of India and Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Ltd (DGSCL) told the Delhi high court on Friday they were on the verge of a settlement that will pave the way for the removal of the toll plaza on the expressway at Sirhaul and sought one more week’s time. Both parties, seeking to amicably settle the dispute over toll plazas, told the court they had “arrived at a consensus on almost 90% of contentious issues” and that the “consent order is almost ready”.

Justice Manmohan Singh then fixed February 12 for recording the terms of the consent order in the case that Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), the lead financier of the toll project of DGSCL, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Haryana government have also joined. Giving an update of the progress made so far, IDFC said a final proposal had been prepared by the NHAI and all parties were hopeful of reaching a consensus within a week. tnn

The NHAI and DGSCL have been embroiled in a bitter legal battle ever since the former issued a termination notice to the latter over frequent complaints of inordinate traffic delays at the toll plaza. The NHAI also found irregularities in the manner in which DGSCL raised loans from IDFC and other financial institutions.

The resolution of the dispute will pave the way for the removal of the toll plaza at Sirhaul.

Earlier, the court was also informed that the earlier proposal of constructing a single toll plaza at 61km was not accepted by the government and the same will now be restricted to a single toll plaza at 42km. IDFC had also submitted a proposal that the senior lenders were agreeable to substituting DGSCL, the concessionaire, as NHAI had earlier recognized a debt of Rs 1,275 crore on the latter. The fresh proposal also stated that since DGSCL had in a letter on January 10 communicated its intention to withdraw all claims against NHAI, “the senior lenders are agreeable to taking on the obligations set out in the MoU dated September 18, 2009?. The court was also informed about the broad, in-principle understanding reached between IDFC and the DGSCL in connection with the project.

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