Kherki Daula toll operator goes to CM

GURGAON: The concessionaire of the Delhi-Gurgaon-Jaipur highway met chief minister M L Khattar on Friday to apprise him of the recurrent dispute at Kherki Daula toll plaza. The dispute is between the concessionaire and residents of 31 villages located near the toll plaza, who force their way through and refuse to pay tax on their commercial vehicles.
The concessionaire told the CM that the dispute has put the firm under pressure, as a result of the losses incurred."If the problem is not resolved at the earliest, bankers will start retreating from such infrastructure projects. In case of the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, bankers are still maintaining the project only because they need to recover the Rs 1,600 crore loan they gave to finance it," said T C Rao, chairman of Skylark Highway Solutions, the toll operator.
The CM was informed that 25% vehicles don't pay toll tax, causing huge revenue losses to the concessionaire. "So long as the toll plaza at Sirhaul existed, until February 19 this year, our daily overall revenue used to hover around Rs 1 crore. But now it touches Rs 40 lakh if all vehicles that cross the plaza pay up. The loss is being borne by bankers who financed the project," said a senior official of Millennium City Expressways Pvt Ltd (MCEPL), the concessionaire.
Rao told TOI that the CM has assured cooperation and promised an early resolution of the conflict with the villagers.