New Delhi: The Center Will Get Toll Revenue Worth Rs 1,000 to 1,500 Crores Every Month After the Delhi-Mumbai toll road that is widely awaited in 2023, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday and described the state-owned NHAI as a “gold mine” to generate income.
Directing ambitious drives to expand state road infrastructure for the past seven years, a confident Gadkari also stressed that the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will sweep the annual toll revenue to Rs 1.40 lakh crore in the next five years the current level of the hospital 40,000 crore.
Gadkari, who had just finished a quail tour to assess the progress of the Delhi-Mumbai toll road that would pass four states from the national capital, said the national highway infrastructure was a world-class success story.
“After Expressway Delhi-Mumbai finished and opened to the public, we will get at least Rs 1,000-1,500 Crore as toll income every month,” he told PTI in an interview.
Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is likely to be completed in March 2023 and is being built as part of the first phase of ‘Bharatmala Pariyajana’.
The eight-lane freeway, including Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujesh, is expected to divide two travel time between national capital and the country’s financial center from almost 24 hours to 12 hours.
Against the background of worries marked about NHAI which was burdened with high levels of debt, the Minister of Transport and Jalan Raya Union referred to that the Nodal Agency had received the ‘AAA’ rating and all the road projects were productive.
‘AAA’ is one of the highest credit ratings and shows a strong financial position.
“Nhai is not in a debt trap, and it will never exist in the debt trap in the future.
This is a gold mine, and is in a strong footing …
In the next five years, NHAI toll revenues will rise by Rs 1.40 lakh Crore per year from current toll income Rs 40,000 Crore, “Gadkari said.
In March, the standing parliamentary committee related to the Department of Transportation, Tourism and Culture had expressed displeasure of the obligation of RS 97,115 Crore-debt serving the obligation to NHAI.
Recently, the minister told Rajya Sabha that the total NHAI loan increased to Rs 3,06,704 Crore at the end of March this year from RS 74,742 Crore in March 2017.
While noting that investment in the infrastructure sector will create employment and accelerate the economy of growth countries , said Gadkari, “We (Nhai and Ministry) are working on projects worth Lakh Crores”.
When the economy is downhill, “then the economy tells us that there is a need to increase investment in infrastructure”, he added.
The country’s economy has been influenced by the pandemic Coronavirus and slowly on the recovery path.
Delhi-Mumbai Expressway to take Rs 1,000 to 1,500Cr Revenues every month, said Nitin Gadkari
