PUNE: The journey on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway is all set to get dearer from April 1 as Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has decided to increase the toll rates. The increase in the toll is in the range of Rs 50 to 270.
The MSRDC in July 2019 had hired a temporary contractor for toll collection and now IRB was again awarded the contract for 15 years.
The new toll rates for cars will increase from Rs 230 to Rs 270.
For minibuses, it will rise from Rs 355 to Rs 420, for trucks and heavy axle vehicles, it will increase from Rs 493 to Rs 580. For buses, it will increase from Rs 675 to Rs 797, while for multi-axle trucks, it will increase from Rs 1,165-1,555 to Rs 1,380 to Rs 1,835.
As per information, IRB Infrastructure Developers will be paying Rs 8,262 crore to MSRDC and thus will collect toll on the Pune-Mumbai-Pune Expressway for the next 15 years.
The 93-km Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which connects Mumbai to Pune, was India’s first six-lane concrete, high-speed, access controlled tolled Expressway. The Expressway starts near Dehu Road in Pune and ends at Kalamboli near Panvel.
Vivek Velankar, President, Sajag Nagrik Manch, Pune, has written a letter to the Chief Minister after the hike. In his letter, he mentioned that toll rates will increase by 18 per cent from April 1, 2020.
“In 2014, it was decided that toll rates will increase by 18 per cent after three years of the period due to an increase in the traffic by 5 per cent. But, during the 2014 to 2019 period, the contractor was to receive Rs 2,869 crore as toll collection amount. But in reality, he received Rs 4,369 crore, which is Rs 1,500 crore more than the previous estimate. Therefore, 18 per cent of the increase in toll rates was an injustice to the commuters,” read the letter.
