The Hindu Business Line : Bangalore-Mysore corridor toll to cost less from Jan

Bangalore, Dec. 23 Toll rates introduced on the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP) sections only a week ago will be cut by around 20-25 per cent from the New Year, the company implementing the project here has said.

The two completed stretches of the 44-km peripheral road and link road became use-and-pay roads as recently as December 18.

Public plea

Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd (NICEL), which is implementing the Kalyani group-promoted BMICP, said it was heeding requests of commuters who said the toll was high and above the other tollways.

“We are changing it at people’s request,” said the NICEL’s MD, Mr Ashok Kheny, while defending the earlier rates.

The project which tied up its finances in 2004 has faced hurdles politically and legally too, and faced severe overruns of time and cost: from the initial Rs 1,200 crore to around Rs 3,500 crore, attributed to higher costs of construction inputs.

Mr Kheny said the 14-year-old project had started earning some revenue only now. Truckers were seeking further cuts, he said.

Protests

Some of the people protesting and attacking the toll centres since Thursday last included those who lost land to the project; they had said they were yet to receive compensation or alternative sites as promised by the promoter.

Mr Kheny said, “All compensation can be made to the land losers only after the land has been transferred to us.”

Land required

NICE needed 20 acres to complete the Bangalore arc.

The State infrastructure agency KIADB had not released the required land, although NICEL paid Rs 148 towards acquisition of the agreed land.

“Give us the land immediately and we will give the alternative sites to the losers within three months.”

This, he said, was in spite of courts upholding the project several times.

The project of some 20,000 acres up to Mysore includes 111-km expressway, which is expected to halve the travel time to 180 minutes, and five townships.

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