The Government on Thursday decided to impose toll payments on more stretches of National Highways (NHs).The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA), which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008 that will bring more stretches of National Highways (NHs) under toll. The approved rules, which also provide for annual increase in toll rates, are aimed at improving the viability of road projects being built on PPP mode.“The approved rules will also bring uniformity in fee rate for public funded as well as private investment road projects,” said Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan.The approved rules enable levying of fee for use of a two-lane section on a National Highway on which the average investment for upgradation has exceeded Rs 1 crore per km. The new set of rules are also learnt to have recommended reducing the number of dignitaries to be exempt from paying toll. The exemption is likely to be limited to those holding constitutional offices and ministerial positions.While 25,000 km of NHs under phases I, II and III are already set to be tolled, another 20,000 km would be covered under NHDP IV which envisages two laning of all single-lane NHs. The move is estimated to bring 45,000 km of the 70,000 km National Highways under tolls.In order to provide road linkage to Sittwe Port of Myanmar, being developed as part of Kaladan Multi-modal transit Transport project in Myanmar, the CCEA on Thursday approved modifications and additions to Phase-A of Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in North East (SARDP-NE). This will mean an additional gross budgetary support of Rs 1,050 crore for SARDP-NE, which will take the total financial support to Rs 5,873 crore. An alternate highway route between Siliguri and Gangtok in lieu of approved proposal for improvement of 80 km length of NH-31A from Sevoke to Ranipul to two lanes was also approved.
