The Maharashtra Government will have to give compensation to the tune of a staggering Rs 8,798.79 crore in a phased manner till 2039 if it were to fulfill the current ruling BJP-led saffron alliance dispensation’s promise made to the electorate during the 2014 Assembly polls of making the State toll-free Maharashtra, according to an RTI reply.
As per the scheduled worked out by the two agencies, the State-run Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and the Public Works Department (PWD) will pay compensation at the rate of Rs 353 crore per till the year 2039.
Replying to an RTI query raised by activist Anil Galgali, an under-secretary attached to PWD Shailendra Borse said that the department’s 19 projects having a total of 27 toll stations, Cars, Jeep, State Transport busses and school buses had been exempted from paying toll, owing to which the dept was paying Rs 179.69 crore to the road contractor for the year 2015-16.
“Amounts ranging from Rs 28.24 crore to Rs 545.74 crore will have to be paid on yearly basis for next 25 years until the financial year 2039-40, which will totally cost Rs 7377.44 crore to the state exchequer,” Galgali said, quoting the statistics provided to him by the PWD department in response to his RTI query.
Similarly 12 projects under MSRDC, 26 toll stations – coming under the purview of the MSRDC are functional “Here cars, Jeep, State transport buses and school buses have been given exemptions, which is going to cost the exchequer Rs 284.27 crore for the financial year 2015-16. The MSRDC will have to pay 284. 27 crore for the following four years i.e., 2019-20 which works totalling Rs 1421.35 crore,” Galgali said.
Slamming the State Government for being lenient towards to road builders who have been “looting the public and government in the name of toll tax”, Galgali said: “instead of handing out compensations to the road building companies in a blind manner, the State Government should have audited the accounts of all companies involved in the toll collection. The willingness shown in paying compensation for toll exemptions seems to be a case where the treatment seems to be costlier and dangerous than the illness itself”.
Six months after coming to power in the State, the BJP-led saffron alliance Government had on April 10, 2015 announced that it would close down 12 toll plazas in the State and exempt private light motor vehicles, including cars and jeeps, and State transport buses from levy of tax at 53 plazas across State from June 1, 2015.
The twin initiatives had come ahead of a high level committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (public works) submiting its report to the Maharashtra government.
Of the 53 toll plazas where light motor vehicles and state transport buses were to be exempted, 27 belonged to PWD, while 26 were of MSRDC.