The Hindu : Front Page : Toll to be collected on three highways

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Thursday, Jan 31, 2008
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Toll to be collected on three highways

Special Correspondent

50 paise to be charged per km in case of a car; exemption for school buses

HYDERABAD: Road-users will have to shell down toll tax for using three important State highways once these are upgraded into four-lane as proposed by the Government under a project taken up with private investment.

The three roads identified for immediate upgradation are Hyderabad-Ramagundam Rajiv Rahadari, Narketpalli-Addanki and Pootalapattu-Naidupet highways. No toll is presently collected for using these roads, which have only two lanes.

A year after coming to power, the Rajasekhara Reddy Government scrapped toll collected on 16 State highways to avoid a burden on the travelling public. However, the Government on Wednesday, announced that toll would be collected for 20 years by contractors who will implement the Rs 2,000-crore project taken up to convert the roads.

Minister for Roads & Buildings T. Jeevan Reddy and P. Rajagopal Reddy, MD, AP Road Development Corporation, told reporters here that the toll for these three roads would be 10 per cent lower than that levied on highways managed by the National Highways Authority of India.

In the case of a car, 50 paise would be charged per km (62 paise per km collected by NHAI), light commercial vehicles Re 1 per km (Rs 1.11) and bus/truck Rs 2 (Rs 2.20). Two-wheelers, three-wheelers and all vehicles used for agriculture purpose, school buses and “local” vehicles would be exempted from the toll. A few other roads -- Kandi-Shankarpalli-Chevella-Shadnagar, Jagtial-Peddapalli, Kakinada-Rajahmundry- Samalkot, Machilipatnam-Nuzvid, Yeleru- Medisettivanipalem, Kurnool-Bellary, Jammalamadugu-Mydukur and Chittoor- Puttoor -- would be widened into two lanes under a Rs 1,000-crore World Bank project but there was no proposal to levy toll on them.

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