The toll rates for national highways will go up by three per cent in current fiscal, as a result of the low inflation. This is against the past trend of charges going up by a range of 6-8 per cent annually in the last few years.
The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation for December has been recorded at 0.11 per cent. Every year, the toll charges go up in sync with the wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation.
According to the 2008 toll policy, on April 1 every year, the toll rates go up by three per cent and 40 per cent of WPI-based inflation recorded in December of previous year. The policy also states that the toll rate should be rounded off to the nearest Rs 5, a move which could make the toll charge hike marginally higher or lower than three per cent. Business Line had earlier reported that the toll rates are likely to go up by below five per cent this fiscal.
In fact, there are some stretches of national highways, awarded before 2008, where the toll rates are entirely linked to the WPI-based inflation. As a result, the toll rates on such highways will just not go up.
"The toll rates will go up by three per cent this year. This is good news for highway users. And while it may be a concern for road developers, they should not worry as the traffic on many stretches are seeing good growth," RP Singh, Chairman, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), told Business Line.
A Road Ministry official hoped that the relatively lower growth in tolls will take away some of the public concerns on toll.
Many road developers such as Ashoka Buildcon, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Limited, IRB Infrastructure have seen double digit growth in traffic in many of their road stretches. However, this is also a concern for private developers with road stretches that are not seeing good growth due to local economic conditions.