The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is considering changes in certain contract formats for building national highways. Under the new format, toll collection could be the responsibility of a separate contractor and not the road builder. Such a step was necessitated after several private contractors found toll collection was not a viable proposition for such projects.
Joint Secretary (Highways), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Rohit Kumar Singh said that his department has chalked out a fresh policy to find a competent contractor to carry out toll collection operations, once the original contractor wishes to leave after constructing a road project.
In the current concession agreement (after 2009), the lead member of the consortium will have to hold on to its 26 per cent equity for two years after the date of commercial operationsÂ…We are planning a new policy: once the first contractor moves out after commercial operations, an equally competent contractor will operate and collect toll for the rest of the agreementÂ’s period, Singh said in Kolkata on May 27.
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