The National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI’s) failure to put under toll completed stretches of highways has cost the exchequer over Rs 1,550 crore per annum.
According to the high-powered committee on infrastructure headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, highways regulator NHAI could put toll facilities only on 58.7 per cent of 11,037 km of completed highways across the country.
The committee had pointed out that only 6,476 km of highways were under toll.
“The average annual revenue per km from toll (collection) in case of public-funded roads comes to Rs 34 lakh,” an official in the NHAI said.
With 4,561 km stretch of completed highways not under toll, the loss amounts to Rs 1,550.74 crore.
Sources in the Planning Commission said taking exception to this, the Committee on Infrastructure (CoI) had told NHAI that “loss of revenue needs to be addressed”.
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Sources added that NHAI failed to put under toll 37 per cent of completed stretches under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP)- 1 in the fiscal 2008-09.
Only 1,263 km of highways out of a target of 2,003 km for the year could be put under toll, while in the previous fiscal (2007-08) it was 1,038 km out of 1,896 km.
An NHAI official said, “If the construction of a particular highway stretch has been completed, it doesn’t mean it can be brought under toll. For example, if a 240-km package is to be brought under toll and 20 km is still incomplete, the entire package cannot be put under toll.”
In the present case though, 11,037 km has been completed but toll packages are still to be completed, he added.
The NHAI official said the highways authority had already discussed the matter with the CoI.
The NHAI has been under fire from various fronts, including the Planning Commission, CoI, Committee of Secretaries (CoS) and the Department of Road Transport and Highways for its inability to fix toll on highways and complete projects on time.
The highways regulator is responsible for the development, maintenance and management of over 66,000 km of national highways in the country and is implementing NHDP in various phases.