NHAI's toll policy pays off

Agency hopes to earn operating surplus of Rs 12 lakh a kilometre

The National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI's) toll policy seems to be paying off with the agency earning an annual operating surplus of Rs 12 lakh a kilometre after meeting its operation and maintenance (O&M) costs.

As per the latest data, the NHAI is expected to earn Rs 27 lakh per kilometre as toll revenue during 2004-05 while its O&M costs are estimated at Rs 15 lakh per kilometre.

The authority manages 1,511 kilometres of toll roads in the country and the total collections at various highway stretches during the current financial year are estimated at Rs 416.38 crore.

The NHAI also tolls eight bridges, with the expected collection for the current year being Rs 1.53 crore or Rs 19 lakh per kilometre a year. Inclusive of the bridges, the authority's total toll collections are estimated at Rs 431.68 crore.

The surplus from the toll would be used for meeting a part of the other expenses like debt servicing, for which about Rs 5 lakh per kilometre was being set aside this year, an NHAI official said.

A part of the surplus is also proposed to be used for providing value-added services like flyovers, bypasses and under-passes, he added.

NHAI officials, however, said the surplus is expected to fall over the next few years. So far, the high-density stretches of Golden Quadrilateral have been tolled, but as more stretches come under the toll network, the per kilometre collection would come down.

The NHAI was aiming to break even once the entire 14,000 kilometre of the roads under the National Highways Development Programme was brought under the toll net, the official added.

For 2004-05, data shows that of the 1,511 kilometres tolled at present, nearly a fourth or 336 kilometres is expected to yield over Rs 10 lakh a day. Over 50 per cent or 788 kilometres could yield more than Rs 5 lakh a day.

The official said the authority would now start tolling stretches in the interiors of the country, where the collection would not be as high.

The O&M costs were expected to escalate with many stretches being used for more than a year now, the official added.

"For instance, the authority plans to invest around Rs 170 crore in re-laying the surface of the Delhi-Jaipur and the Delhi-Agra stretch. Other such stretches were also being identified and the maintenance costs would progressively be a higher a drain on toll revenues," the official said.