The state government will soon take a final call on giving exemption to light motor vehicles (LMV) from paying toll at five entry points to Mumbai and the 95-km long Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
The state government will soon take a final call on giving exemption to light motor vehicles (LMV) from paying toll at five entry points to Mumbai and the 95-km long Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
A draft regarding the financial and legal implication arising from exempting LMVs will be submitted to the state government by the committee headed by additional chief secretary Sumuit Mulick by March end.
“We are in the process of compiling data which the state government will have to follow before exempting any type of vehicle on the five entry points and Mumbai-Pune Expressway. There will be certain legal complications too which the state is expected to comply with before announcing toll waiver for LMVs. The state will have to communicate with the contractors who are collecting toll at five entry points and the Expressway,” said a Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) official.
The toll booths on five entry points are operated by the Mumbai Entry
Point Infrastructure Development (MEPID) located at Vashi, Dahisar, Mulund (Eastern Express Highway), Airoli and Mulund (LBS Marg). On the Mumbai-Pune Expressway the toll booths are located at Khalapur and Talegaon, which are operated by Ideal Road Builders (IRB).
“We have also calculated the Passenger Car Unit (PCU), which passes through the Expressway and five entry points of Mumbai. However, exempting LMVs on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway will not be a good idea as MSRDC has plans to augment the capacity of Expressway between Khalapur and Singhad Institute by expanding it from the present six lanes to eight lanes, for which funds will be required,” the MSRDC official added.
The actual deadline to submit the report by the committee was scheduled for July 2015, but it could not submit it that time. According to MSRDC officials, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis could announce whatever decision the state government would take in the ongoing budget session, which will end on April 13, 2016.
The biggest obstacle for the state government could be the legal hurdles in exempting LMVs as there are no buy-back provisions in the five major toll projects and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway,” the MSRDC official added.
