Bandra-Worli Sealink toll may be hiked in 2017

In the coming financial year, Mumbaikars will have to shell out more for using the Bandra-Worli sealink (BWSL) as the current one-way toll of Rs 60 may get hiked by a minimum of 10 per cent. Similarly, the rate for monthly passes for passenger cars would also be increased. A monthly pass costs Rs 3,000 at present.

In February 2014, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) had appointed Mumbai Entry Point Limited (MEPL), which was the sole bidder, for toll collection and maintenance on the sealink. Joint managing director, MSRDC, Kiran Kurundkar confirmed that the increase in toll collection is expected to be around a minimum of 10 per cent. “We are yet to calculate the amount to be levied on tolls, but an increase of 10 per cent can be expected. The contract for MEPL would end in February 2017. Following this, fresh bids would be floated to appoint contractors for toll collection and maintenance of the sealink. This process will be carried out in March 2017. We can start collecting the new toll amount from the new financial year in April,” said Samir Gulati from MSRDC’s finance department. Apart from the monthly passes, the MSRDC had also launched an online re-charge facility for motorists using the sealink.

The online re-charge facility helps the existing sealink ETC lane users to re-charge their passes through Citrus Wallet and Paytm. The website is directly linked with the payment gateway. “We have around 1 lakh motorists using the ETC tag facility and the number is expected to go up,” added Mr Kurundkar.

The BWSL was constructed at a cost of Rs 1,634 crore. Of this, Rs 852 crore was marked for the actual bridge from the Bandra toll booth to Worli sea face. Charging a toll of around Rs 10 per kilometre, the 5.6-km sea link is one of the highest-tolled roads in the state.

It is also an infrastructure project that has run into cost overruns by a whopping 125 per cent of the initial project cost, estimated in 1999 during its initial stages.