The State's draft toll policy is likely to be tabled before the West Bengal cabinet by November this year.
According to Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Managing Director, West Bengal Highway Development Corporation Ltd, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) has been roped in as consultants. And the final draft will be ready for presentation within the next 10-15 days.
"In another 10-15 days, PwC will present the draft toll policy; after which it will be placed for approval by the State Cabinet," he said during an interactive session organised by the MCC Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
The toll policy is expected to help have a uniform toll structure for the state highways; and also encourage the private sector participation in highway projects here.
At present, West Bengal does not have any specific guideline as to what should be the distance between two toll plazas on a highway; the toll to be charged from vehicles and so on.
The West Bengal Highway Development Corporation is already working towards widening and better connectivity of state highways. At present there are 19 state highways covering approximately 4,500 kms of roadways.
State Highway Projects
According to Agarwal, six projects at an estimated cost of Rs 1,250 crore, are already underway.
This includes widening of the state highways and ensuring their better connectivity with the national highway network.
Another Rs 4,600 crore worth of road projects - West Bengal North South Road Corridor Project - is to be developed too.
The project - to be developed in seven phases - will have 30 per cent contribution from the State and 70 per cent through soft loans.
The Asian Development Bank, he said, has evinced interest in funding the road project; and it seeks to improve the State's connectivity with the NH-6, NH-2, NH-60 and NH-34. It will also improve connectivity with land-locked nations like Nepal and Bhutan facilitating faster movement of goods.