Poor response from firms for collecting toll tax

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) have received very poor response from firms, during bidding for collection of toll tax for the Outer Ring road from Peddamberpet to Patancheru.Reportedly, only one firm, Eskon India Ltd has bid for collecting the toll fee. The HMDA which opened technical bids a few days back found only one firm had bid for the work. The financial bid is yet to be opened. As the response has been poor, the HMDA might float fresh bids shortly. Officials said the poor response from firms could have been due to high cost involved in setting up the infrastructure and running a toll plaza.Speaking to Express, HMDA officials said they have proposed to build user fee collection centres at Peddamberpet, Bongolur, Raviryal, Tukkuguda, Pedda Golconda, Shamshabad, Rajendra Nagar, Gachibowli, Kokapet, Edulanagulapally and Patancheru. Officials added that out of the total 158-km stretch, they had completed about 62 km and the remaining stretches are in various stages of completion.The HMDA has fixed the following toll rates for different vehicles: cars/jeeps (82 paise per km), light commercial vehicle/minibus (Rs 1.33 per km), bus/truck (Rs 2.79 per km), multi-axle truck with 3-6 axles (Rs 4.36 per km), multi-axle Truck with 7 or more axles (Rs 5.32 per km).The HMDA is already allowing traffic in the stretch from Gachibowli to Peddamberpet via Shamshabad.