Hyderabad: Motorists will not be burdened with toll tax on over 24,000 km of roads planned for villages, mandals, and district headquarters under the panchayat raj, rural development, and roads and buildings departments.
Roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy clarified in the state assembly that these roads will be developed under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), with the state govt funding 40% of the cost and the remaining 60% covered through bank loans facilitated for private contractors. The govt will also repay these loans in a phased manner, the minister added.
He was responding to BRS MLA Harish Rao’s query on road development funding. Harish sought to know if the Telangana govt would impose toll tax, similar to national highways developed by private contractors. “Will this loan exceed Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) limits? Will it be counted as state debt?” he asked during the budget discussion for 2025-26.
The Congress govt had earlier announced a plan to develop rural roads by 2028 at an estimated cost of Rs 28,000 crore. However, the assembly discussion on Friday focused solely on funding and toll tax concerns rather than the overall budget for the 24,000 km road network.
Dismissing Harish’s concerns, Komatireddy accused him of misleading the house. “There is no proposal to collect toll tax on these roads. We plan to invite tenders in April and begin construction soon after, with a three-year completion target,” he said.
He also said Harish’s claims of the BRS govt developing double-lane roads in all mandals was far from truth. “The BRS govt neglected road development because commissions from contractors weren’t feasible. Roads were left in a deplorable condition during their last five years. How can they even talk about roads when they leased the ORR for less than Rs 8,000 crore and saw the Kaleshwaram project collapse?” he argued.
The debate escalated with both leaders challenging each other to a field visit to assess road conditions. Komatireddy stated that the BRS govt only developed two-lane roads in Gajwel, Sircilla, and Siddipet — constituencies of former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and former ministers KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao — using Singareni, CSR, and state funds.
Meanwhile, speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar intervened, pointing out the poor road conditions in Vikarabad district. “Parents are unwilling to marry off their daughters there due to bad roads,” he remarked, countering Harish’s claim that the previous govt had ensured two-lane roads in every mandal.