The state government will soon make an announcement on waiving off of toll on cars and state transport buses at Mumbai's five entry points though the same concession may not be extended to motorists on the Mumbai-Pune expressway.
"Granting concessions or waiver in toll on the Mumbai-Pune expressway is not possible," state government sources told dna. "We are planning to augment the capacity of the expressway and expand it from the present six lanes to eight lanes (the costs will be recovered from toll)," it added.
The source claimed that toll on the expressway, which was constructed during the erstwhile Shiv Sena- BJP rule (1995-1999) and regarded as a signature infrastructure development project, was "not very troublesome for commuters".
The 95-km expressway, which redefined road travel from Mumbai to Pune and beyond, was completed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) at a cost of Rs 2,136 crore and the proposed capacity expansion project also envisages construction of an eight-km long tunnel and four-km cable stayed viaduct.
Meanwhile, public works department (PWD) minister Chandrakantdada Patil said the state government would exempt cars and state transport and schools buses from all new tolled road projects to be undertaken in the future. To ensure that there is no disproportionate toll burden on commercial vehicles, it will grant VGF to these projects.
The new toll policy, which will be approved by the state government soon, also seeks to plug loopholes which allow developers to fudge traffic figures to ensure that they get to charge more toll or secure a higher concession period (during which developers can levy toll).
"While calculating the cash flow at (proposed) projects, we will set up digital cameras and assess the traffic. The projects will be tendered only then," said Patil. He admitted that they had no option but to opt for private participation in executing road projects due to the department's budgetary constraints.
Patil said the report of a committee under additional chief secretary (PWD) Anand Kulkarni, which had been established to examine a toll waiver for small vehicles and state transport buses at Mumbai's entry points, has time to submit its report by July-end. There is a possibility that the waiver will be announced in the monsoon session of the legislature.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier admitted to legal hurdles in doing away with the toll like non-provision of guidelines for buy-back in major toll projects like the Mumbai Entry Point and Mumbai Pune Expressway.
The MSRDC has bid out collection of toll at the five entry points to Mumbai, namely, Vashi, Dahisar, Mulund, Airoli and LBS Marg till November 19, 2026.
From June 1 (May 31 midnight), 11 toll nakas under the PWD's jurisdiction and one under the MSRDC will be closed with the state government buying them back. Similarly, 53 toll nakas, including the PWD's 27 and 26 under the MSRDC will see cars, jeeps and buses being exempted from payment of toll, with the state reimbursing toll contractors. Patil said the exemption had also been extended to school buses at the 53 toll nakas and a notification would be issued soon.
