Highways may be toll-free until 6-laning is complete

Road Transport and Highways Minister C P Joshi has pushed for heavy penalties in the concession agreement for delays. The ministry believes this would deter contractors from going slow to collect toll for longer,spur highway expansion,and provide relief from traffic snarls because of road diversions.

Private developers are currently allowed to charge higher toll from the day they are appointed to six-lane a stretch of highway. Toll is currently being collected on 17 under-construction highways across India,triggering grievances among state governments and the public.

The ministry argues that the arrangement fails to incentivise punctuality; it rather encourages concessionaires to delay projects and build grounds to make claims later.

As a result,not only is infrastructure asset creation for the country,as far as development of six-lane highways is concerned,facing major hindrances,but also public resentment against the requirement to pay the increased toll for reduced facilities has been observed to be on the rise, says the ministrys proposal.