Mumbai-Pune Expressway contract to end August next year

Toll-operate-transfer or TOT might be a new term for highways but one of the early examples of this concept, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, will see its contract ending August next year. In August 2004, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and Mhaiskar Infrastructure (MIPL) signed a 15-year concession agreement to develop, operate and maintain the Mumbai-Pune section of NH-4, along with the operation and maintenance of the Expressway project. This was also one of the early public-private partnerships (PPPs) in India’s road sector. The project was not devoid of legal challenge. At present, activists have filed a public interest suit at the high court here that the right of the contractor, Mhaiskar Infrastructure, to collect toll on the expressway be revoked. They contend the firm has recovered the cost of the expressway construction project. A petition on similar grounds against Noida Toll Bridge Company, seeking lifting of toll, got a favourable verdict in 2016, leading to the Delhi-Noida expressway becoming free for commuters.