Gujarat’s decision to exempt vehicles from toll on State highways last week may impact nine public private partnership (PPP) toll road projects in the State, rating agency ICRA said here on Monday. “Toll exemption for private vehicles and State transport buses will be an additional burden on the cash flow and would affect the debt-servicing capability further,” ICRA vice-president Shubham Jain said. The government plans to compensate the revenue loss incurred from such toll exemption through monthly reimbursements for such exempted vehicles. “Toll exemption is likely to result in disputes as the quantum of compensation in such cases is always not agreeable to all parties as seen in Maharashtra. Last year, the Maharashtra government had scrapped 12 toll plazas across the State and exempted toll tax for small vehicles and State transport buses at 53 other toll plazas.

Source: The Hindu August 22, 2016 17:26 UTC