On the Bundelkhand Expressway, commuters must pay tolls

Beginning on Wednesday, commuters using the 296-km Bundelkhand Expressway will be required to pay tolls. Inauguration day for the Expressway was July 16 of last year.

Beginning on Wednesday, the toll booths on the four-lane, access-controlled highway that connects Etawah and Chitrakoot through Auraiyya, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, and Banda will be operational.

The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has contracted with the Maharashtra-based Inderdeep Construction Company to handle toll collecting.

For a single journey, four-wheelers would be charged Rs 620, and for a round-travel within 24 hours, Rs 993. Buses and trucks would pay Rs 1,995 for each journey, compared to Rs 990 for light commercial vehicles and minibuses.

Additional fees will apply to earth movers, trailers, and multi-axle vehicles.

Salil Kumar, chief engineer for UPEIDA, said that Inderdeep Construction Company would manage the toll plaza for a calendar year and generate yearly fees of Rs. 68.39 crore (including GST) for the authority.

In January, UPEIDA opened bids for the expressway’s operation, but it took them six months to locate a suitable organization.

Three businesses only submitted bids for the project in the sixth call after the requirement that the bidder furnish UPEIDA with at least Rs 100 crore in income per year was waived.