National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) suffered toll losses worth ₹2,731.32 crore in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan due to the farmers’ protest since last October, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday.
It added that the outstanding debt of NHAI increased by 176% to ₹338,250 crore in three years.
While Haryana incurred a loss of ₹1,319.61 crore, Punjab suffered a loss of ₹1,269.42 crore due to the farmers’ agitation. Rajasthan registered a loss of ₹142.29 crore, Union minister for road transport and highways (MoRTH) Nitin Gadkari told Rajya Sabha.
“The farmers’ protest started affecting toll collection from October 2020. Initially, toll plazas in the state of Punjab were made non-operational by agitating farmers in October 2020. It eventually spread to the neighbouring states of Haryana and parts of Rajasthan. Overall, 60 to 65 NH toll plazas were affected due to farmer agitation resulting in loss of toll collection of ₹2,731 crore,” Gadkari said in a written reply to a query by Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Uttar Pradesh Anil Agrawal.
The government also said that business at the toll plazas continue to remain affected as farmers have not yet vacated the sites,
{{/usCountry}}The government also said that business at the toll plazas continue to remain affected as farmers have not yet vacated the sites,
{{/usCountry}}“MoRTH and NHAI have made continuous efforts to operationalise the affected toll plazas through active communication with the state administration, help of toll collecting agencies etc. State governments of Punjab and Haryana had assured to render full cooperation for resumption of toll collection at the affected toll plaza in their respective states. However, toll operation could not be started,” the minister said.
“Further, NHAI invited bids for 14 non-operational fee plazas in the state of Rajasthan based on assurance from local administration and two plazas were awarded on September 3, 2021 and September 7, 2021. However, these plazas also could not be operated due to farmers’ protest,” he added.