Fee to be collected from today; govt only informed
Heavy toll for NICE drive
DH NEWS SERVICE
BANGALORE: Already em-
broiled in litigation over
key issues involved in the
implementation of the Ban-
galore-Mysore Infrastruc-
ture Corridor, its promoter,
the Nandi Infrastructure
Corridor Enterprise (NICE)
on Wednesday delivered a
shocker to motorists.
In a quiet move, it an-
nounced its decision to col-
lect toll from Thursday from
motorists who would be us-
ing the 41-km Peripheral
Road and the 9.8-km Link
Road. The toll will be the
highest in the country and
will be in force until Decem-
ber 31 when it can exercise
the option of revising it, at
an annual rate of 10 per cent
increase.
Now the toll: for cars tak-
ing the 7.5-km Hosur Road-
Bannerghatta Road stretch
of the Peripheral Road, the
toll is Rs 21, while it is much
higher at Rs 31 for the 9.8-
km Link Road stretch. This
works out to Rs 2.83 and Rs
3.16 per km, respectively.
For bus, the per-km fee will
be Rs 7.57 and 7.95, respec-
tively.
In comparison, cars us-
ing the 28-km Delhi-Gur-
gaon Expressway (that too
mostly 8-lane as opposed to
the 4-lane NICE roads) pay a
toll of just 61 paise per km
while the buses pay a rea-
sonable fee of Rs 1.82 per
km. (See chart).
A quick comparison with
the toll for the 71-km stretch
N O T- S O - N I C E A C O M P A R I S O N
Comparison of toll fee per km (average in rupees)
Section Car Bus Trucks 2-wheelers
NICE peripheral road 2.83 7.57 4.90 1.20
four-lane
NICE Link Road 3.16 7.95 5.30 1.30
four-lane
Delhi-Gurgaon 0.61 1.82 1.82 No fee
Expressway 6-8 lane
Makhanpur-Etawah 0.70 2.39 2.39 No fee
(UP) four-lane
Toll rates for different section of NICE Peripheral Road (in rupees)
Car Bus Truck LCV
Hosur-Bannerghatta Road (7.5km) 21 56 36 22
Bannerghatta-Kanakapura Road (6.5km) 18 48 31 18
Kanakapura Road-Mysore Road (7.5km) 21 58 37 22
Mysore Road-Magadi Road (8.7km) 25 67 43 26
Magadi Road-Tumkur Road (7 km) 19 52 34 20
Mysore Road-Tumkur Road (15.5km) 44 119 77 46
Link Road (9.8km) 31 78 52 31
on the four-lane highway and quality of the road.”
from Makhanpur to Etawah
(Uttar Pradesh), notified by
Govt informed: NICE
the Ministry of Shipping, The base year for calcula-
Road Transport and High- tion of toll on the NICE road
ways on September 25, 2008, was taken as 1998. The
shows how steep the NICE spokesperson said NICE
fees are. For cars, jeeps and was allowed a 10 per cent es-
vans on the Uttar Pradesh calation of the fee every
road, the single entry fee year over the previous
was fixed at Rs 50. year’s toll. But was the Gov-
When contacted, NICE ernment's clearance sought
spokesman cited the Toll for the escalation or fixing
Concession Agreement the rate? “We were required
signed in 2000 to justify the to inform the Government,
extremely high toll. and we have done that. It is a
The NICE spokesperson simple mathematical for-
asserted that their toll was mula,” he said.
not high at all. “It is de- Citing the agreement
signed in such as manner again, the spokesperson said
that the users will realise the company was permitted
that money is actually saved to collect the toll as and when
considering the facilities the sections were completed.
PHASE I
Airport
41
KM
BANGALORE
Peripheral Rd
17
SH-
6
-8 Link road 9.1
SH KM
BIDADI
NH-7
Expressway 21 Hosur Road
KM
The length of the completed
MAV (per axle) 2-wheeler sections of the Peripheral
39 8 Road ranges from 6.5 km to
33 7 15.5 km.
41 9 The Peripheral Road was
47 10 designed to connect the Na-
37 8 tional Highways 7 and 4
84 18 passing through Bangalore
65 13 City, and link them to the
BMIC, which is approxi-
The toll will be collected mately 111 kilometres.
at the exit points instead of The Link Road is approx-
the entry points. The Pe- imately nine kilometres
ripheral Road has eight long, connecting the Ex-
such interchanges, where pressway to the State High-
the toll will be collected. way 17. The project also has
“Unlike other toll roads, an Elevated Link Road of
where motorists have to pay approximately three kilo-
a standard rate from point A metre length, connecting
to point B, the fees will be the Link Road to downtown
collected only for the stretch Bangalore.
taken. On entry, the mo- The contentious BMIC
torist will be issued a ticket project was designed as a
and at the exit point, the four-lane road expandable
length and rate will be cal- to six lanes in future. The
culated,” explained the design also took into ac-
spokesperson. count the safety of vehicles
Once fully completed, the travelling at a speed of 120
Peripheral Road from its kmph.
junction with Hosur Road Suitable provisions were
till its intersection with to be made for grade sepa-
Tumkur road will have a to- rated interchanges to serve
tal length of 41 kilometres. as link for townships.