The toll plaza on the National Highway stretch between Delhi and Gurgaon may be removed.

This was one of the options discussed in a meeting held between Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Road Transport Minister C. P. Joshi here on Thursday.

The toll plaza has become contentious as users had to wait for long, resulting in traffic block. This also led to an intervention by the Punjab High Court last year.

Now, NHAI has given a termination notice to the toll road developer DSC Ltd. The developer is contesting it in the Delhi High Court. IDFC, the lender to the project, has also opposed the termination notice.

Though the developer and the lender are opposing the termination notice, they are not actually on the same pitch, as IDFC claimed that the developer was not co-operating with it, when it wanted to take over the project.

In the last court hearing, IDFC had given a proposal that it would like to operate the stretch and shift toll plazas farther from New Delhi and Gurgaon.

The move would result in smoother flow of traffic on the toll road, which has been mired in various controversies. However, the final call will have to be taken by the relevant authorities, including NHAI. Besides, the financial implications of this proposal have not yet been firmed up. At NHAI’s end, there are three key options that were discussed. First, terminate the contract by stating that that the developer defaulted on terms. Second, terminate the contract on the condition of political force majeur clause, where NHAI takes over the project, and Haryana Government pays some compensation. In both these cases, IDFC might lose the excess money it had lend to DSC Ltd, without the NHAI’s approval.

The third option is to allow IDFC step in as the lender and allow it to recover its dues by charging toll from a toll booth located away from Delhi and Gurgaon.

> mamuni.das@thehindu.co.in

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