Noida: Five Aqua Line stations renamed, private players to manage them

NOIDA: Five of the 20 Aqua Line stations of Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) are being renamed, said officials. The five stations that are being renamed will include the name of the co-branding partners that have recently been finalised.
While work at Pari Chowk metro station is already complete, Alpha 1 and Knowledge Park 2 metro stations are under progress. The metro stations that are being renamed include sectors 137, 142, Knowledge Park 2, Pari Chowk and Sector Alpha 1.
The NMRC has given licence for these five metro stations through open tendering process for a period of ten years.Pari Chowk metro station won the highest bid of Rs 1.62 crore annually and was given to Jai Prakash Associates Limited. It will now be called Jaypee Greens metro station, the NMRC officials informed.
Sector 137 metro station will now be called India TV Sector 137 station. Knowledge Park 2 metro station will be renamed as Sharda University station and Alpha 1 metro station will become LIC Alpha 1 station. Sector 142 station has been allotted to Advant IT Park private limited, but the new name for the station has not been decided yet.
“Total annual revenue earned by the NMRC through co-branding for these five stations will be Rs 5.52 crore. After the code of conduct is lifted, a fresh open tender will be floated for five more stations. The partner agency will also handle maintenance and upkeep of the metro stations for ten years,” said a spokesperson of NMRC.
Officials said that while the private partner will maintain the metro station and pay an annual revenue to the NMRC, it will in turn get to brand the station according to the designs or colours they choose.
Of the total 21 stations on Aqua Line, 10 will have private co-branding partners and 11 others will be allotted to government agencies. While five private partners have been decided, five more will be allotted through open tenders after the code of conducted is lifted. The other five stations that will have private branding partners include sectors 51, 50, 148, Delta 1 and GNIDA office.
“For the other 11 stations, we have started sending out letters to several government agencies from the state and centre. We should be able to finalise these stations soon,” said the NMRC spokesperson.