Free no more, but cheaper
19 Sept 2012 7:34 AM IST
The cost of travel on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway will soon come down, probably in a month, by around one-third following a new pact signed on Tuesday by NHAI and other parties involved in the project.
‘To avail the concessions for local traffic, earlier the public was paying for 60 trips per month by taking e-tag on payment of one-time deposit of Rs 1,500. Now the public will have to pay for only 40 trips without payment of cost of e-tag,’ an official statement from NHAI said.
The Memorandum of Understanding [MoU], which provides concessions to the local public for the use of the expressway, was signed on Tuesday. The revised scheme is to be implemented within 15 days. The local traffic will get a concession of 50 per cent for personal traffic and 33 per cent for commercial traffic, the statement said.
‘Thus, the cost of monthly pass for local traffic will be reduced by one-third. This will enable more and more user public of local traffic to take monthly passes and avail concessions which will help in reducing the congestion at toll plazas due to less cash transactions,’ it added.
The issues relate to signing of the MoU containing terms of settlement in the matter of termination of the Concession Agreement of Delhi-Gurgaon BOT [Toll] Project between National Highways Authority of India [NHAI] and the Concessionaire and the Financial Institutions [IDFC and 4 other Banks], a statement said. The issue was heard by the Delhi High Court on 30 August and the court had granted a short adjournment till 17 September as requested by the ‘Concessionaire’ for responding to the MOU, it said.
The matter was heard in the Delhi High Court on 17 and 18 September and NHAI, the Concessionaire and Senior Lenders signed the MOU in the court on Tuesday, it added.
IDFC and four other public sector banks are recognised as Senior Lenders for the project for a debt of Rs 1,203 crore by reducing their exposure/debt by Rs 367 crore, which means that Rs 367 crore would be returned by the Concessionaire to the Senior Lenders, it said.
In order to reduce the congestion at the toll plazas, additional 11 lanes will be provided at km 24 and additional four lanes at km 42 in a phased manner. Hand-held devices will also be used for faster clearance, it said. If the Concessionaire does not implement the measures as per MOU, NHAI reserved its right to terminate the Concession Agreement after giving a show cause notice, it added.
The National Highways Authority of India [NHAI] on Tuesday informed the Delhi High Court that it would withdraw a termination order issued to the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway’s concessionaire as they had sorted out their differences.
The termination order was issued in February to the concessionaire for its failure to improve services at the 32-lane toll plaza of the expressway.
Justice S Muralidhar said, ‘A memorandum of understanding [MoU] as agreed to by the NHAI, Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity [Concessionaire] and Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd [IDFC] and other plaintiffs [collectively referred as lenders] has been signed today.’
COP BEHIND TOLL-FREE EXPRESSWAY TRANSFERRED
Police officer Bharti Arora, whose initiative led to the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway becoming toll-free for a fortnight, was transferred ahead of a crucial hearing in the case on Thursday, an official said on Tuesday. The deputy commissioner of police heading the traffic wing took on the contractor for not managing traffic on the 32-lane expressway, forcing the judiciary to order a temporary halt in toll collection. The case will be heard on Thursday in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
While the Haryana government termed the transfer of the 1998-batch IPS officer a routine exercise, as 15 others too have been shunted out, Arora did not quit her charge on Tuesday. She had put up a foolproof case against the expressway concessionaire Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Ltd [DGSCL], backed with evidence that eventually led the court to stay toll collection for 15 days. It was a team set up by her that ensured smooth ride on the expressway all these days, a miracle for NCR residents for whom long queues at the Sirhol toll plaza had become a daily pain.
‘To avail the concessions for local traffic, earlier the public was paying for 60 trips per month by taking e-tag on payment of one-time deposit of Rs 1,500. Now the public will have to pay for only 40 trips without payment of cost of e-tag,’ an official statement from NHAI said.
The Memorandum of Understanding [MoU], which provides concessions to the local public for the use of the expressway, was signed on Tuesday. The revised scheme is to be implemented within 15 days. The local traffic will get a concession of 50 per cent for personal traffic and 33 per cent for commercial traffic, the statement said.
‘Thus, the cost of monthly pass for local traffic will be reduced by one-third. This will enable more and more user public of local traffic to take monthly passes and avail concessions which will help in reducing the congestion at toll plazas due to less cash transactions,’ it added.
The issues relate to signing of the MoU containing terms of settlement in the matter of termination of the Concession Agreement of Delhi-Gurgaon BOT [Toll] Project between National Highways Authority of India [NHAI] and the Concessionaire and the Financial Institutions [IDFC and 4 other Banks], a statement said. The issue was heard by the Delhi High Court on 30 August and the court had granted a short adjournment till 17 September as requested by the ‘Concessionaire’ for responding to the MOU, it said.
The matter was heard in the Delhi High Court on 17 and 18 September and NHAI, the Concessionaire and Senior Lenders signed the MOU in the court on Tuesday, it added.
IDFC and four other public sector banks are recognised as Senior Lenders for the project for a debt of Rs 1,203 crore by reducing their exposure/debt by Rs 367 crore, which means that Rs 367 crore would be returned by the Concessionaire to the Senior Lenders, it said.
In order to reduce the congestion at the toll plazas, additional 11 lanes will be provided at km 24 and additional four lanes at km 42 in a phased manner. Hand-held devices will also be used for faster clearance, it said. If the Concessionaire does not implement the measures as per MOU, NHAI reserved its right to terminate the Concession Agreement after giving a show cause notice, it added.
The National Highways Authority of India [NHAI] on Tuesday informed the Delhi High Court that it would withdraw a termination order issued to the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway’s concessionaire as they had sorted out their differences.
The termination order was issued in February to the concessionaire for its failure to improve services at the 32-lane toll plaza of the expressway.
Justice S Muralidhar said, ‘A memorandum of understanding [MoU] as agreed to by the NHAI, Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity [Concessionaire] and Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd [IDFC] and other plaintiffs [collectively referred as lenders] has been signed today.’
COP BEHIND TOLL-FREE EXPRESSWAY TRANSFERRED
Police officer Bharti Arora, whose initiative led to the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway becoming toll-free for a fortnight, was transferred ahead of a crucial hearing in the case on Thursday, an official said on Tuesday. The deputy commissioner of police heading the traffic wing took on the contractor for not managing traffic on the 32-lane expressway, forcing the judiciary to order a temporary halt in toll collection. The case will be heard on Thursday in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
While the Haryana government termed the transfer of the 1998-batch IPS officer a routine exercise, as 15 others too have been shunted out, Arora did not quit her charge on Tuesday. She had put up a foolproof case against the expressway concessionaire Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Ltd [DGSCL], backed with evidence that eventually led the court to stay toll collection for 15 days. It was a team set up by her that ensured smooth ride on the expressway all these days, a miracle for NCR residents for whom long queues at the Sirhol toll plaza had become a daily pain.
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