Ahmedabad: With the existing toll collection contract on the Sardar Patel (SP) Ring Road set to expire on Dec 31, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (Auda) plans to take over toll collection from Jan 1, 2027, with revised rates likely to kick in the same day.Auda has initiated the process of hiring manpower through a private agency to manage toll plazas as part of a new arrangement under which it will collect toll revenue directly and pay annuities to contractors executing the Rs 2,200 crore six-laning project.The 76-km SP Ring Road, which encircles Ahmedabad, is being upgraded from four lanes to six lanes to ease growing traffic pressure. In Feb 2025, Auda approved two tender packages for the project, covering the 37 km eastern stretch and the 39.25 km western stretch. Work is currently under way.An Auda official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the authority would collect toll tax for 15 years under the new arrangement. Toll rates will be revised as stipulated in the tender formula, while contractors will receive annuity payments every six months.“Under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), contractors will bear 60% of the project cost, while Auda will contribute the remaining 40%. New toll plazas will be established along the upgraded road. Tenders to procure manpower have already been issued, and the selected private agency will provide staff at toll plazas under Auda’s supervision,” the official said.The project also includes widening 34 km of existing two-lane service roads to four lanes and upgrading 15 km of three-lane service roads to four lanes.Auda originally developed the SP Ring Road on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis in 2006. In 2019, the existing concessionaire, ARRIL, offered to undertake six-laning for Rs 200 crore at its own expense in exchange for a three-and-a-half-year extension of its concession agreement. Auda rejected the extension request, although it initially accepted the proposal subject to conditions, including sharing additional toll revenue.The proposal was scrapped in 2021, prompting Auda to prepare a fresh detailed project report. The authority subsequently floated two tenders worth Rs 2,200 crore in Feb 2025 to execute the six-laning project under the new model.Box: Toll collection as per NHAI rulesAhmedabad: An Auda official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated, “Auda will take over toll collection operations starting Jan 1, 2027. At the present stage, toll rates will be revised based on the current Wholesale Price Index, which is likely to result in a marginal increase in the toll. However, once the six-laning project of the SP Ring Road is completed, the existing seven toll booths will be upgraded.” After completion of the six-lane project, there are plans to apply new toll rates in accordance with the National Highways Authority of India’s toll collection rules, he added.
