A meeting between bankers who had funded the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway and senior officials of Haryana government will be held in Chandigarh on Friday in order to end the Kherki Daula toll plaza standoff. According to the officials, the possibility of shifting the Kherki Daula toll plaza to Pachgaon near Kundli-Palwal expressway will be discussed. Additionally, possible acquisition of the toll by the state government could also be discussed.
An estimated one lakh vehicles commute via Kherki Daula toll plaza on a daily basis and the average toll collection is between Rs 40 to 45 lakhs per day.
The Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) led consortium of representatives of the consortium of banks will be meeting a committee of Haryana government officials chaired by Alok Nigam, additional chief secretary, PWD (Building & Roads). Representatives from IDFC, Oriental Bank of Commerce, State Bank of India, Bank of India and Punjab National Bank and will be attending the meeting.
“We are going to meet the government representatives to discuss various options for Kherki Daula toll plaza in Chandigarh. The project has been financed by consortium of banks and they have raised a demand of Rs 1081 crores as pending loan amount”, said S Raguraman, CEO, MCEPL, a company set up by bankers to manage the concession on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.
According to officials privy to the proceedings, the government is strongly considering shifting the toll to Pachgaon near the KMP expressway. NHAI has also shown keen interest in the shifting proposal. “The bankers also seem to be willing to compromise and NHAI could buy them out in collaboration with Haryana government if reasonable terms are offered,” said the officials.
As the amount demanded by the bankers is considerably large, the possibility of acquisition of the toll plaza depends on the response of other stakeholders in the Kherki Daula eco-system.
Meanwhile, speaking on the subject, Gurugram MP, Rao Inderjit Singh said that the toll must be removed and the amount of toll collected till date needs to be factored into the calculations of recovery. “This toll needs be removed as it has become a major bottleneck for the development of Gurugram. Over the years, the vehicles paying toll have multiplied and the collections have increased”, he added.
