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MSRDC scouts for new toll agency for Mumbai-Pune Expressway

The contract of IRB Infrastructure Developers is ending next month

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Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has floated a tender to appoint a toll collection agency for Mumbai-Pune Expressway as IRB Infrastructure Developers's contract to operate and maintain the highway is nearing the end of the concession period.

In August 2004, MSRDC had entered into a concession agreement with IRB's special purpose vehicle Mhaiskar Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (MIPL) to operate and maintain the Mumbai-Pune Expressway as well as to develop, operate and maintain National Highway 4 between Mumbai and Pune, popularly known as Old Pune Highway. This agreement is for a period of 15 years, which is ending next month. 

As this 94.5-km long Expressway is part of the larger Golden Quadrilateral, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) too is part of the project to augment its capacity.

BUMPER COLLECTION

  • As per the tender document, the agency will be for a period of three months or till the appointment of new agency
     
  • In August 2004, MSRDC had entered into a concession agreement with IRB to operate and maintain the Mumbai-Pune Expressway
  • Rs 1,000 cr – annual potential toll collection at the expressway, according to the bid document
     
  • Rs 918.2 cr – toll revenue during fiscal 2018, according to IRB Infrastructure Developers
     
  • Rs 6,695.37 cr  – the Mumbai-Pune Expressway Augmentation likely to cost
     
  • Rs 8,000 cr – the augmentation cost may increase to, by the time the project is put out for bidding

“The toll collection agency will be in place for a temporary period as the concession agreement with the existing company is coming to an end,” said an MSRDC official.

As per the tender document, the agency will be “for a period of three months or till the appointment of a new agency by Mumbai-Pune Expressway, a special purpose vehicle of MSRDC.”

The bid document states that the annual potential toll collection from Mumbai-Pune Expressway is around Rs 1,000 crore. According to IRB Infrastructure Developers, their toll revenue from this Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project during FY2019 was Rs 918.2 crore. This amount is almost half of the overall toll revenue for IRB for all their BOT road projects put together.

The state government plans to improve this highway's capacity by constructing a mix of tunnels and bridges so that sharp turns on the hilly terrain of Khandala-Lonavala can be minimised to cut the overall travel time between the two cities by about half-an-hour.

According to 2016 estimates, this Mumbai-Pune Expressway Augmentation project will cost Rs 5,385 crore. This cost has risen since the project report was prepared, and as of 2018, the revised amount was Rs 6,695.37 crore. By the time the construction project is put out for bidding, it may increase to around Rs 8,000 crore.

In August 2018, the Maharashtra government had extended collection of toll on this expressway to April 30, 2045, from August 2019 to recover expenses for this augmentation project.

Initially, when the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was planned and construction completed the 'Level of Service' was 'A' and 'B'. But in a one-and-a-half decade, it has reached an unacceptable level of 'F'.

Level of Service is a measure to relate to the quality of traffic service on the highways, depending upon the traffic, speed and density of vehicles. As per the data available with MSRDC, the Level of Service at ghat (Hilly) section of the Expressway has touched the 'F' category. 

Level 'A' is the best category for motorists wherein there is a free flow of vehicles, with no traffic congestion. While 'F' is the worst among the lot wherein there is a breakdown of the flow of traffic, every vehicle's movement is slow and needs repeated braking.

The other sections of both the highways have Level of Service ranging between 'C' and 'E'. This analysis was done by the MSRDC in 2013.

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