India to increase road toll charges from Monday

Ashoka Buildcon

02/06/2024 13:18

By Manoj Kumar
       NEW DELHI, June 2 (Reuters) - India will hike road toll
charges across the country by 3-5% from Monday, officials said,
after putting the annual increase on hold in April due to the
country's general elections.
    Toll charges in India are revised annually in line with
inflation and highway operators put notices in local newspapers
announcing hikes of 3% to 5% at nearly 1,100 toll plazas from
Monday. 
    "As the election process is over, the revision of user fee
(toll) rates, which was put on hold during the elections, would
become effective from June 3," a senior official at the National
Highways Authority of India told Reuters.
    The official said hikes in toll charges and taxation on fuel
products help pay for the expansion of national highways, but
opposition parties and many motorists criticise the annual rise
in charges, saying they increase transport costs of essential
commodities and burden commuters.
    High operators like IRB Infrastructure Developers  IRBI.NS 
and Ashok Buildcon Ltd  ABDL.NS  will benefit from the toll
increases.
    India has invested billions of dollars over the last decade
to expand the national highways, with a total length of about
146,000 kilometres, the second-largest global road network.
    Toll collections jumped to more than 540 billion rupees
($6.5 billion) in the 2022/23 fiscal year from 252 billion in
2018/19, helped by a rise in road traffic as well as by
increases in the number of toll plazas and charges.
    India's general election concluded on Saturday with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led
alliance projected to win a big majority, TV exit polls showed.
        
  

($1 = 83.4240 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((manoj.kumar@thomsonreuters.com; +919810286200;
Twitter:@manojgulnar;))