The financially strapped Kerala government intends to request that the Central government consider waiving the royalty on earth/boulders and refunding the State Goods and Services Tax component for the National Highway projects in the state—the Ernakulam Bypass and Kollam-Shenkottai NH.
The State has already asked the Centre to waive the proposed 25% State share of the cost of acquiring the land for these projects. As a response, the Center has sought the State government a number of exemptions, including GST royalty exemptions for the building supplies used in the projects.
A meeting was convened by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, on Friday to discuss the problems with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. As part of the Capital Region Development Program, Chief Minister Vijayan will also express his concerns on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) project.
According to the sources the State earlier agreed to pay 50% of the land acquisition costs, 100% of the service road costs, and to waive the State GST and royalty for the Thiruvananthapuram Outer Ring Road section of NH-866. However, in light of the current circumstances, the State will now seek a waiver from having to pay 50% of the State’s share of the costs for land acquisition and reimbursement for State GST and royalty.
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For three forthcoming greenfield National Highway (NH) projects in Kerala, the State government earlier agreed to pay 25% of the costs for land acquisition, amounting to ₹4,440 crore. The four-lane NH-966 Palakkad-Kozhikode segment, the four-lane NH-85 greenfield road from Kochi to the Tamil Nadu Border, and the four-lane Thiruvananthapuram – Kottarakara – Kottayam – Angamali (MC Road) are included these projects.
Additionally, the State had agreed to contribute 25% of the cost of acquiring land for 16 ongoing projects on NH-66, totalling ₹5,748 crores, of which ₹5,581 crores had already been deposited. The Chief Minister has decided to ask the Union Minister to take into consideration reimbursing GST and sparring the State from collecting royalties on building materials as Kerala endures a significant financial burden contributing to land acquisition for NH development.
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The National Highways Authority of India’s ‘Request For Proposal’ (RFP) states that the construction of the Thiruvananthapuram Outer Ring Road (ORR) will be completed in two packages. Package-I, from Navaikulam to Thekkada under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, with a design length of 29.25 km and a projected cost of around ₹1,478.31 crore, will be carried out.
Similarly, Package II is estimated to cost around ₹1,489.15 crores and covers 33.40 km from Thekkada to Vizhinjam. The construction period is 910 days in the draft concession agreement that is included with the tender materials, with a 15-year following operation period for both packages.
