The NHAI has categorised six types of vehicles for collecting toll. | Photo Credit: Bhagya Prakash K.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to collect toll on the newly inaugurated Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway from Tuesday. Toll will be collected for using the six-lane main carriage of the expressway from Bengaluru to Nidaghatta. The length of the stretch between the two points is around 55 km.
The authority initially planned to collect toll from February 28, and had also fixed toll fee for various types of vehicles and notified the same. However, citing “unavoidable reasons”, the commencement of toll collection was deferred till March 14. Leaders of the opposition parties had accused the NHAI of collecting toll without completing the service roads.
The NHAI has categorised six types of vehicles for collecting toll. As per the fee fixed, car owners will have to pay ₹135 for a single trip on Bengaluru–Nidaghatta section. For return journey within a day, the toll is fixed at ₹205. For mini-bus, the toll will be ₹220 and for bus ₹460 (single journey).
Confirming the development, a senior official of the NHAI said, “Toll collection will start from 8 a.m. on Tuesday.” As per the toll notification issued earlier, toll will be collected at Kaniminike village in Bengaluru Urban district and Sheshagiri Halli in Ramanagara district.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the expressway and held a roadshow in Mandya. The expressway is one of the major projects in the State which got inaugurated prior to announcement of the dates for the forthcoming Assembly elections.
The access-controlled expressway between Bengaluru and Mysuru, built at a cost of ₹8,480 crore, encompasses a portion of National Highway 275 comprising four rail overbridges, nine significant bridges, 40 minor bridges and 89 underpasses and overpasses.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari earlier said that with the new expressway, the travel time from Bengaluru to Mysuru is expected to reduce to 75 minutes.
The toll fee is likely to be revised once the entire main carriageway for a distance of 117 km is opened for motorists in the future. At some stretches such as Budanur, works are underway for construction of underpasses and others.
Published - March 13, 2023 09:01 pm IST
