The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has outsourced its first road construction project to a private under a new model, enabling the state to make money via toll collection, reports Times of India (TOI).
The Yogi govt approved a proposal of the UP State Highways Authority (UPSHA) to award the work for widening of State Highway 46, connecting connecting Pukhrayan, Ghatampur and Bindki, has been awarded to a Indore-based private firm Prakash Asphaltings & Toll Highways.
While this is the fourth project to a private player for development but unlike other projects, it is not awarded on a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Under the (PPP) model, a maximum viability gap funding of up to 40 per cent is permitted to make projects feasible for private players. With the new model, the state government, instead of providing funding to the company, will be able to generate money via toll collections.
In the newly devised model, the company, after completing the project, will be sharing 1 per cent of the total toll collection with the UPSHA.
“Though our share is nominal, it is a big achievement for the Yogi government. We had been struggling for the last four years to give a makeover to the crucial state highway since a lot of fatalities are reported from here,” a senior UPSHA official was quoted in the ToI report.
The private company has agreed to infuse Rs 1,136.45 crore to widen the highway from two-lane to four-lane.
Further, the firm will ensure proper road safety measures at three locations, where the state highway intersects three national highways, to dissuade motorists from speeding.
The revenue will be shared with the state government after a period of 3351 days while UPSHA will be handed over the highway after two decades of operation.
The Madhya Pradesh (MP)-based private company will also be enabling movement to neighbouring districts by enhancing the quality of infrastructure in the concerned region.