Delhi-Gurgaon expressway to break even in 3 yrs

The 27-km-long Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, the country's most ambitious intra-city toll road will break even in three years, despite the fact that it has incurred 73 per cent of cost over-run, and is running two years behind schedule.

The reason: starting January 2008, DS Constructions, the company building and managing this stretch, will impose a toll of Rs 15-18 (for passenger cars), Rs 18-20 (for taxis), and Rs 45-50 (for buses and trucks) per trip.

It will help the company generate over Rs 250 crore of annual revenue. It will also help the company recover more than Rs 950 crore invested on the construction of this stretch within the next three years.

Since it is an expressway, two-wheelers would not be allowed to commute on this stretch once it is completed, as service roads are being provided for local traffic movement, according to the company officials.

The toll rates were ascertained by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) recently after finalising the layout of the three toll plazas, which would be put up at this stretch. These toll plazas are being set up near IGI airport, Delhi-Gurgaon border and 42nd Milestone.

After much delay, the project is expected to finish by December and company officials say they would start levying toll by January next year.

Ministry sources say that toll rates have been determined considering the volume of traffic on that section of the highway. The rates would be subject to periodic review on annual basis and any increase in these would be based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI).

The Delhi-Gurgaon expressway project is part of the first phase of the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP), which was started in June 2002 and was supposed to be completed by July 2005.

According to senior executives of DS Construction, the project's cost has escalated by nearly 73 per cent (original cost estimate was Rs 550 crore) due to frequent changes in design and structural modifications.

However, the NHAI that controls the Delhi-Jaipur highway, paid 50 per cent of the cost escalation while the remaining has been borne by DS Constructions. According to sources, the toll currently shelled out by the commercial vehicles at Delhi-Gurgaon border to Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), would now go to DS Constructions, which in turn would give it to MCD.

The flip side of all this though would be that the road travel between Delhi and Gurgaon would become dearer by Rs 30 per day for over 200,000 vehicles travelling daily on the 27-km-long Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.

While this move is likely to impact thousands of executives and call centre employees who commute daily between Delhi and Gurgaon, it will help DS Construction generate over Rs 250 crore of annual revenue.

It will also help the company recover more than the Rs 950 crore invested on the construction of this stretch within the next three years. DS Construction will operate on this stretch for a period of 20 years, according to the conditions of the project, which is being constructed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

However, the commuters who will start from Delhi's international airport and go towards Jaipur will have to pay the toll at three points (near IGI airport, Delhi-Gurgaon border and 42nd Milestone). This will make commuters shell out Rs 40-50 for a one-way journey.