Commuters Will Have To Pay 18% More Taxes On Mumbai-Pune Expressway From April 1 Next Year
Mumbai, 16th September 2022: As of April 1 of the next year, the price on the crucial toll road will be altered, increasing user fees for commuters on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. On the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, a one-way charge for a car is about Rs 270, while a bus fare costs Rs 797.
On Wednesday, Tushar Kawedia, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at IRB Infrastructure told CNBC-TV18, “There is a fixed tariff increase of 18 per cent every three years for this project. The Mumbai-Pune expressway will see a price increase starting on April 1, 2023.”
Kawedia, regarding the organic increase in traffic momentum, said, “Including all the modifications for tariff, the volume growth that we have witnessed is approximately 7-8% and we believe this continues for the coming quarters as well.”
Around Rs 336 crore in toll revenue was collected in August 2022, an increase of 35% year over year (YoY). However, due to farmer unrest, toll collections for 2021 were halted.
He added, “This 35% rise is driven primarily by portfolio-based traffic growth of nearly 7-8%. Despite the monsoon season, we anticipate that these numbers will be steady into September as well.”
“Considering the upcoming holiday season, the statistics would be greater than what has been anticipated so far,” he continued.
While giving an update on the situation, Kawedia said, “We are in the process of transferring this asset and it will be completed before the end of October 2022. This transaction will result in equity consideration of Rs 342 crore for IRB and the debt of Rs 945 crore will be removed from the balance sheet for IRB. After this, IRB Infra’s net debt to equity will decrease to 102 billion on a consolidated level.”
All five projects were financially closed by the corporation.
