Maha Govt awards Mumbai entry points toll contract to MEPL

Maharashtra government has awarded the contract of collecting toll at the city's five entry points to Mumbai Entry Point Limited (MEPL), a company of the Mhaiskar group of the IRB Infrastructure Limited.

"After hard negotiations with MEPL, we decided to award the contract to them. Earlier, they had offered to pay Rs 2100 crore to MSRDC in five years. Now, they will pay Rs 1700 crore in first year itself," Jaidutt Kshirsagar, minister for public works (public undertakings) and chairman of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, told PTI.

The state cabinet infrastructure committee last night approved the contract of collecting toll at the city's five entry points to MEPL, he said, adding the amount of Rs 2,100 crore will be paid by the company in three installments.

"MSRDC stands to gain following our hard negotiations with MEPL," the minister said.

Two other bidders had quoted higher concession period and were rejected, he said. On Reliance Infrastructure approaching the High Court on the issue, the minister said "the contract has been awarded to MEPL pending the Court decision."

"Reliance Infra has no locus standi on the matter," he added.

The minister declined to comment on reports that compared to MEPL's 16 years, other bidders were ready for just 10 years but were disqualified on technical grounds.