Three toll plazas have earned crores more than road cost

Times of India: Ahmedabad: Monday, June 24, 2013.

After the demolition of Vishala toll plaza, there is demand for scrapping of three more toll tax booths which have collected crores more than the construction cost of the roads. Government records show that the toll booths on Ahmedabad-Mehsana road, Baroda-Halol highway and Vataman-Tarapur road have crores as toll tax, much more than what the roads had cost to build.

The reply to a RTI application filed by Mukesh Dave has disclosed how much the three toll plazas have collected as toll tax. The booth on Ahmedabad-Mehsana road has collected Rs 391 crore against the construction cost of Rs 342 crore. The toll plaza on Baroda-Halol highway has collected Rs. 279.20 crore which is Rs 109 crore more than the construction cost of Rs 170.94 crore. Similarly, the Vataman-Tarapur crossroads toll plaza has collected Rs 116 crore against the construction cost of Rs 100 crore.

The cost of building the roads was recovered long time back. Yet the continuing tax collection burdens each vehicle with an average Rs. 2.45 per kilometer as toll tax.

The All India Motor Transport Congress says that commuters will have to continue paying toll tax to plaza operators as the state government has no rules to regulate toll rates after the contractor has recovered the construction cost of the roads. In contrast, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) reduces toll rates after a contractor has recovered the capital cost.

Nimish Patel, chairman of All India Motor Transport Congress toll committee, said that the Central government (under NHAI users fee rule 9) has suggested that toll tax on all national highways should be reduced by 60% once the capital cost has been recovered, and toll plaza operators should charge only 40% of the earlier tax as maintenance charge. "Why is the Gujarat government not embracing such a policy?" asked Patel.

The Gujarat government has the freedom to formulate and implement its own policy for highways built by it. Managing director of roads and building department, KG Prajapati, said that whether or not toll tax should be collected after the construction cost has been recovered is decided by the state government after necessary financial analysis.

Jitendra Sanghvi, vice-president of Akhil Gujarat Truck Transport Association, said that the state government is already earning Rs 850 crore per year as revenue by charging vehicle tax from people.

"Additionally, the annual budget of the department of roads and buildings for construction and maintenance of roads and highways built by the state government is Rs 650 crore each year. In this situation, it is unfair to profit from toll tax after the construction cost has been recovered," said Sanghvi.

Toll Plaza	Actual cost of construction (Rs Crore)	Actual cost of construction (Rs Crore)
Ahmedabad-Mehsana	342	390.86
Vadodara-Halol	170.94	279.20
Vataman-Tarapur	100	116