[tsk1979]

A long time back, I filed an RTI for the amount of toll collected for 2014.
Since toll Plaza was shifted in November, I got data for

01.04.2014 - 30.11.2014 = 8 months.

Guess how much toll was collected?
95 crores!!

This plaza is responsible for around 150kms of road max, maybe even less.
Cost/km of fresh load relaying of a lane is around 20 lakhs approx.

For 6 laning, and re-carpeting existing road, cost comes to around 50 lakhs/km

Do the maths. Just 8 months of Toll collection was enough for road construction, yet we paid so much for a road which was partially constructed, with incomplete flyovers.

Now toll is increased, and many flyovers are still not constructed, giving a huge profit to the concessionaire!

[The Rationalist]

I was suspecting the same for long. tsk1979, where do we have to give the application to get this information? Were are being robbed in daylight! Feeling dizzy at reading the amount collected.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

I was suspecting the same for long. tsk1979, where do we have to give the application to get this information? Were are being robbed in daylight! Feeling dizzy at reading the amount collected.

Just go to govt of India's online RTI portal
https://rtionline.gov.in/

File an RTI.
You can do it for NHAI controlled roads.

After that you wait. You won't get any response. I had to file and appeal to finally get a response.

My my estimates, total toll collected from Delhi border to Punjab border(200kms) for one year exceeds 200 crores total, extrapolating this data.
That is a very very large amount of money.

A lot of people think that tolls are justified as this is the only way roads can be constructed. But from this RTI, its clearly visible that we are paying toll more than the construction cost of a road, for a road which is not being constructed.

Where does the interest from this money go?

[mallumowgli]

@tsk : Great work. If you are able to get any newspaper - at least a vernacular, to publish this information, it would have an impact.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

A long time back, I filed an RTI for the amount of toll collected for 2014.
Since toll Plaza was shifted in November, I got data for

01.04.2014 - 30.11.2014 = 8 months.

Guess how much toll was collected?
95 crores!!

This plaza is responsible for around 150kms of road max, maybe even less.
Cost/km of fresh load relaying of a lane is around 20 lakhs approx.

For 6 laning, and re-carpeting existing road, cost comes to around 50 lakhs/km

Do the maths. Just 8 months of Toll collection was enough for road construction, yet we paid so much for a road which was partially constructed, with incomplete flyovers.

Now toll is increased, and many flyovers are still not constructed, giving a huge profit to the concessionaire!

Tanveer my brother, I am sorry but you have simply not included the complete project cost. You picked an 150km stretch out of 290km. Let's assume its 1/2 of that, so the total toll was say around 200 crore tops.
So assume in a full year, they earn 300 crore? Its a staggering number no doubt.

But what are their costs? Let's see what news articles say:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/chandi...1-1298108.aspx
4500 crore.

The interest cost on that amount itself is 380 crore (say 8%), before a penny is spent on salaries, maintenance, lighting , ongoing repairs etc etc.

Huge profits to the concessionaire? I doubt.

If the business was as wildly profitable and it only costed 50L/km for six laning, then India's top infrastructure construction company L&T would not be exiting some projects.

Three years back, Kotak said the highways business wasnt so profitable.

[katchkamalesh]

Isn’t acquisition of Land the major cost involved in such projects? I think it will take a bit longer to compensate. However, I do agree that many of the toll roads in and around Chennai have been poorly maintained. Eg. Chennai – Puzhal bypass. The stretch between Tambaram and Porur is terrible.

Makes me wonder for what reason do they collect toll.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Tanveer my brother, I am sorry but you have simply not included the complete project cost. You picked an 150km stretch out of 290km. Let's assume its 1/2 of that, so the total toll was say around 200 crore tops.
So assume in a full year, they earn 300 crore? Its a staggering number no doubt.

But what are their costs? Let's see what news articles say:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/chandi...1-1298108.aspx
4500 crore.

The interest cost on that amount itself is 380 crore (say 8%), before a penny is spent on salaries, maintenance, lighting , ongoing repairs etc etc.

H

For the 291kms stretch the total number of toll plazas are
Karnal = 110rs toll
Punjab haryana border 70rs toll
Ludhiana border = 120rs toll

These are car rates.
So total toll collected would be around 500 crores/year.

Remember, this lane was already 4 laned earlier. Now its widening and flyovers.

Secondly work on many areas has been stalled for many years, so they are not spending the money of course.

Thirdly, the entire 4500crore won't be from the private company, would it be?

[poloman]

The total toll collected during 2013 was 11400Cr as per this article and private vehicles contributed a mere 1600Cr. So all these statistics are "glass half full half empty" kind of info.I don't think this figure is high. But again you can argue which ever side you like due to very complexity of these projects in India.The land acquisition cost of 4 laning NH17 in Kerala was coming to a staggering 45000crores at market rates.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/47365263.cms

[reverse_gear]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

For the 291kms stretch the total number of toll plazas are
Karnal = 110rs toll
Punjab haryana border 70rs toll
Ludhiana border = 120rs toll

These are car rates.
So total toll collected would be around 500 crores/year.

Remember, this lane was already 4 laned earlier. Now its widening and flyovers.

Secondly work on many areas has been stalled for many years, so they are not spending the money of course.

Thirdly, the entire 4500crore won't be from the private company, would it be?

The HT article states that 29% was incomplete as of April 2014, meaning that ~3,200cr had already been spent by that time. Presumably that spend would have gone up in the intervening year.

The entire amount would have been funded by the private consortium along with bank loans. Had a quick look at the concession agreement on NHAI, and in fact they are paying a 20% royalty to NHAI (which increases by 1% each year).

Frankly, it looks like a basket case for the private developer who has put up this project. Typically, they would need to make ~14% return on investment to meet their cost of debt and equity. If they end up spending 4500 cr and recover 450 cr per year (assuming 10% spent on maintenance, operation, etc.), the return is just 10%. Further, if you deduct the royalty that they are paying to NHAI, it will reduce to 7%.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

A lot of people think that tolls are justified as this is the only way roads can be constructed. But from this RTI, its clearly visible that we are paying toll more than the construction cost of a road, for a road which is not being constructed.

Where does the interest from this money go?

Exactly, the process of awarding toll contracts is one of the biggest scams currently. And now that citizens have started making a hue and cry about the extortion, they're talking about making private vehicles exempt, while still levying the unjust toll on commercial vehicles. One big scam.

Where does the interest from this money go?
It goes directly into the pockets of the corrupt toll operators and their politician fathers.

You were lucky that you filed it for NHAI roads, for private operators, no such figures are available. Go figure.

[dsmatharu]

The Gubba starts with the early assessment for the projects.
Traffic volume is under-reported ( 10 - 15 % ??? ) in early studies.
So that the beneficiaries can reap benefits for years under the garb of recovering costs !!!

[bhardwhu]

I can chime in with a personal experience of having a close aquaintance managed toll on NH-24 between Ghaziabad and Moradabad. The 24 hours collection is expected to be INR 10 lakhs. Hope that gives some perspective.

Regards


Himanshu

[IshaanIan]

I doubt they recover the cost of constructing a highway so quickly. However, the only way I am going to be happily willing to pay the high rates that most Indian toll plazas request, is if the highways are actually smooth. There are so many undulations the road simply isn't flat enough to confidently cruise at high speeds. Especially overpasses where every 50 meters or so you could encounter an unreasonably deep trough. Why is this? This also makes cars more prone to aqua-planing during heavy downpour. What methods are not being undertaken to achieve this and how much would it cost to have confidence inspiring flat stretches of tarmac?

[SmartCat]

Some of the road toll companies are listed on the stock exchange. All you need to do is read the annual report from the company's website to see how much revenues they are generating, their operating expense, debt on the books (gives an idea about the project cost) and finally their return on equity (lets you know if they are making a killing at road user's expense or just scraping by)

Noida Toll Bridge Company (DND Flyway)
http://www.ntbcl.com/

IRB Infrastructure (Mumbai Pune Expressway)
www.irb.co.in

BF Utilities (NICE Road Bangalore)
http://www.bfutilities.com/

GMR Infra (owns & operates 6 or 7 toll roads all across India)
www.gmrgroup.in

The annual report detailing the financials are available in the "investors" section of the website

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by smartcat

GMR Infra (owns & operates 6 or 7 toll roads all across India)
www.gmrgroup.in

The annual report detailing the financials are available in the "investors" section of the website

GMR EBITA 2594 over ~10500 income, which is a healthy 25% profit margin.