Tolls fixed for vehicles

The Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway will require a separate toll on top of the toll for the Padma Bridge.

Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesday approved a service provider for toll management of the expressway.

The toll rate will be determined by the Road Transport and Highways Division. 

The division has appointed Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) to collect tolls for the expressway, as well as operate and maintain the expressway and the Intelligent Transport System (ITS).

KEC has been given a five-year contract and will receive funding from the government of about Tk 717 crore.

Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Md Zillur Rahman Chowdhury confirmed the matter to The Business Post.

He, however, did not elaborate the toll rates.

The construction of this six-lane highway has cost Tk 11,000 crore, which will connect 22 districts in the southwest region of the country. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the highway on March 11 last year.

In May this year, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) at a meeting proposed to set – Tk 18.40, Tk 25, Tk 33.71 and Tk 34.70 – four base tolls 84 to 250 per cent higher than the rate fixed earlier. However, a final decision would be taken following a meeting with stakeholders, expected to be held this month. 

The finance ministry in April last year approved Tk 10 as the base toll – proposed by the Road Transport and Highways Division – for an interim period until the opening of Padma Bridge. 

The fee per kilometre for a medium-sized truck (two axles) is considered the base toll. 

RHD, which is the custodian of the country’s first expressway, will start toll collection from July 1, and until a new rate is fixed, they will follow that of the interim period, officials said.

At the Economic Affairs Committee’s 15th meeting on Wednesday, one proposal was approved following the presentation of two proposals. 

Additionally, 15 proposals were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase at its 20th meeting. 

Four of these came from the Department of Road Transport and Highways, four from the Department of Local Government, three each from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and the Ministry of Railways, and one from the Ministry of Water Resources. 

The 15 proposals will cost a total of Tk 6,750.24 crore. The government will contribute Tk 1,139.36 crore, and foreign financing will cover the remaining amount.