MSRDC collected ₹120.84 crore in toll on two highways in six months
Car owners in Mumbai and surrounding areas have paid ₹120.84 crore in toll for using the Eastern and Western Express Highways in the first half of 2023, according to data from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. The toll is for the flyovers and bridges across the city, not the highways themselves, said Radheshyam Mopalwar, managing director of MSRDC, in response to a demand from a local politician to stop charging motorists for using the highways. Toll rates for cars are ₹40 for one way.
In the first half of 2023, car owners in Mumbai and adjoining areas like Thane and Mira-Bhaindar have paid ₹120.84 crore in toll for using the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) and the Western Express Highway (WEH), data available with Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) shows.
Of a total ₹254.18 crore collected during this period at the city’s five entry points, ₹71.97 crore was collected on EEH against ₹48.87 crore on WEH.
Responding to Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray’s demand that MSRDC stop charging motorists for taking the highways, a top corporation official said toll is not for the roads but for the 55 flyovers and bridges across Mumbai.
“Toll is not charged for the highways but for the flyovers and bridges built across the city. There is no link between the maintenance of the two highways and the toll collection. Maintenance of the flyovers and bridges is still with MSRDC; so, there is no question of ending the toll,” Radheshyam Mopalwar, managing director of MSRDC, told reporters on Tuesday.
On Monday, Thackeray at a press conference claimed that since MSRDC had handed over the repairs and maintenance of EEH and WEH to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the toll collection should be stopped.
On behalf of MSRDC, MEP Infrastructure Private Limited collects toll at the five entry points - Mulund (for EEH), Dahisar (for WEH), Airoli, Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, and Vashi. Toll rates for cars are ₹40 for one way. That means a car driver taking the two highways spends ₹80 for his return journey to Mumbai, or from Mumbai to adjoining areas like Thane or Mira-Bhaindar.
