New cess on petrol, diesel proposed for road project

New Delhi: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed levy of an additional cess of 30 paise per litre on petrol and diesel to bridge the Rs 1,800-crore shortfall in funding of the ambitious National Highway Development Project.
“While the cabinet has approved the Phase-I (of NHDP) cost of Rs 30,300 crore, for the Phase-II cost we have proposed additional cess,� minister of state for road transport and highways BC Khanduri told a news agency today. The government is levying a cess of Re one per litre on petrol and diesel to part-fund the Rs 58,000 crore NHDP that involves four/six laning of 14,162 km of highways by December ’07.
Funds for Phase-I, called Golden Quadrilateral, connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, is scheduled for substantial completion by December ’03. “We have given our assessment of the likely shortfall in funds for the Phase-II comprising four/six lane corridors joining Srinagar with Kanyakumari and linking Porbandar to Silchar. One of the ways to bridge it would be levying additional cess,� he said.