Mumbai

Reliance Infra’s 71-km long Kandla-Mundra Highway connecting the two major ports in Gujarat, commenced toll operations from Saturday, an official said here on Tuesday.

With this, all the 11 highway toll projects of Reliance Infra, a Reliance Group Company have started generating toll revenue.

RInfra’s 100 percent owned special purpose vehicle, KM Toll Road Pvt Ltd is executing the project in the state’s Kutchh district at a cost of Rs.1,128 crores.

The 4/6 lane highway connecting Gandhidham, Kandla to Mundra Port section of NH-8A extension has been delivered on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis.

The crucial highway is a link to two high commercial traffic ports of Kandla and Mundra with a long concession period of 25 years.

Mundra Port is one of the largest in the private sector in India with a major container handling facility and a CAGR growth of 53 percent over the past four years.

With the widening of the corridor, the average speed of vehicles is expected to increase from 45 kmph to around 70 kmph, thereby slashing the travel time by 40-50 percent with 30 percent savings on fuels, for the estimated 39,000 vehicles which will use it daily.

RInfra has also built slip roads to towns of Anjar and Gundala to provide seamless connectivity in the region.

“At a time when road infrastructure sector is grappling with stalled projects, we have commenced tolling operations in all the 11 highway projects within just six years time. The government’s agenda of Make-In-India need world-class infrastructure and our highway portfolio is dedicated to that,” a RInfra spokesperson said.

The highway is equipped with a 14-lane toll plaza with state-of-the-art Toll Management System, real time video surveillance and alerts to Central Control room, accident assistance and round-the-clock patrolling on the entire stretch.

IANS