Minister Prashanth Reddy said that the toll charged by NHAI has already burdened the people of the state and if the toll is raised, it will further affect them
Posted Date – Wed, 3/29/23 at 10:12pm
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Hyderabad: Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy has strongly opposed the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) proposal to increase tolls from April 1, demanding that the Center drop the proposal immediately.
In a letter to Road Transport and Highways Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday, Prashanth Reddy said that the tolls collected by NHAI have already burdened the people of the state and if the tolls are raised, it will further affect them.
He said the center had collected more than Rs 9,000 crore in the past nine years through 32 toll gates in the state. “This means that half of the funds used by the center to build roads has been collected from the people of Telangana through toll taxes,” he noted.
The minister said that while the Center had approved Rs 12,517.6 crore for road construction in the state for 113 national road projects and Central Roads and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) works in the past nine years, only Rs 2,035 crore was spent.
He said the center has been collecting tens of crores of rupees from the people of Telangana in the form of taxes on petrol and diesel, but it has not been used for state development. He demanded that the Coalition Government immediately withdraw its proposed toll increase.
