Toll-free city may cost govt 250cr a year for a decade

MUMBAI: If the city’s five entry and exit points are made toll-free, the state will have to cough up Rs250 crore for the next 10 years as a reimbursement for exempting

MUMBAI: If the city’s five entry and exit points are made toll-free, the state will have to cough up Rs250 crore for the next 10 years as a reimbursement for exempting small vehicles.

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While this is one of the suggestions in a state-commissioned report on abolishing toll at Mumbai’s entry and exit points — Dahisar, Airoli, Vashi, LBS Road and Mulund — the other one is buying back the contracts given to the toll operator for Rs2,100 crore.

If the government picks the second option, all vehicles will be exempted from paying toll.

Public works minister Chandrakant Patil revealed the details of the report, which has been formulated by former public works department secretary Anand Kulkarni, on Monday.

While Patil said the government wants to abolish toll, implementing it may not be an easy task as the finance department is not comfortable shouldering the burden. “Despite the big financial burden, the state government is positive on abolishing toll tax at Mumbai’s entry and exit points. The decision will be taken soon,” said Patil, adding that the findings of the report were being discussed with finance department officials.

The BJP had promised a ‘toll-free Maharashtra’ in its manifesto during the Assembly elections in 2014. After being elected to power, the state decided to exempt small vehicles from paying toll at 53 toll nakas across the state. For Mumbai, the government had appointed the Kulkarni committee to suggest options and recommendations.

Sources told HT the finance department is not in favour of taking on an additional financial burden, especially when the state’s finances are not in a good shape. It has argued that the government is already paying Rs425 crore every year from its pocket for exempting small vehicles for paying toll tax at 53 toll plazas.

Another contention of the department is that by paying Rs425 crore annually, people are being relieved from 53 toll plazas of the state, while in this case, it is limited to freeing up only Mumbai’s entry points.

The cash-strapped state has paid heavily for the populist promises made by the BJP-led government ahead of the 2014 elections. These include scrapping the Local Body Tax (LBT), which costs the exchequer around Rs5,500 crore every year.