Expressway to be a top money-spinner
Feb 08, 2008
Serpentine queues at the newly opened toll gate on Delhi-Gurgaon
expressway may be causing tremendous hardship to motorists, but
could mean a rich harvest for the developers of this 27.7-km-long
stretch. For the government estimates this expressway could be a blockbuster
in terms of opening revenues, likely to overtake the current biggest
grosser - Jaipur-Kishangarh - in the first month itself.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) measures toll collection
on the basis of "rupees per km per annum"
to get a uniform picture as all stretches are of varying length.
By this yardstick, the GVK-developed Jaipur-Kishangarh stretch of
NH 8 has the highest earning among all toll roads in India at Rs
128 lakh per km per annum.
"Given the fact that Delhi
has more cars than Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai put together and
Gurgaon is a very affluent area, the local traffic alone on this
route will be very high. Coupled with the traffic of NH 8 (Delhi-Jaipur),
the per km earning of this stretch is almost certain to be the highest
in India," said a senior official.
Tolling on this stretch began last Friday. The monthly earning
figure to be compiled for February is likely to be highest for both
the 65 NHAI-run and 10 private toll plazas operational in India
currently, estimates the NHAI.
About the long queues, NHAI says the concessionaire, D S Constructions,
should have given some time for motorists to get used to the new
system before beginning tolling. A company spokesperson said any
estimate of revenue or traffic flow could be given only after a
few days. "It is too early and we will not be able
to give any revenue or traffic figures. We have spent about Rs 1,000
crore on developing this facility," he said.
GVK developed the 91-km stretch between Jaipur and Kishangarh at
a cost of Rs 650 crore. It handles about six lakh vehicles a month,
collecting Rs 12 crore as toll from them on an average. Nearly 55%
of the 6 lakh vehicles are heavy commercial vehicles that pay a
toll of Rs 440. "The Delhi-Gurgaon road will get all
the highway traffic and in addition witness perhaps the highest
inter-city traffic of personal vehicles. So we are looking at some
record collection," said an official.
Source: Times of India
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