Toll collections may witness double-digit growth in FY'20 on rise in commercial vehicle sales, WPI: ICRA

New Delhi: Toll collections are likely to witness a double-digit growth in the next financial year, propelled by an increase in commercial vehicle sales and wholesale price index (WPI), rating agency ICRA said on Thursday. “Driven by strong growth in medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV), along with an increase in WPI, toll collections are likely to witness a significant growth in 2019-20,” ICRA said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_5871291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP.[/caption] A high growth in automotive sales would subsequently lead to growth in traffic volumes, it said. Typically, commercial vehicles account for around 65-70 percent of the total vehicular movement on a majority of national highways. Passenger vehicles account for the remaining 30-35 percent. The latest commercial vehicle (CV) sales trend is encouraging with the M&HCV cargo segment witnessing a robust growth of 38 percent during first eight months of 2018-19, Rajeshwar Burla, assistant VP & associate head, corporate ratings, ICRA said. “Further, the average increase in WPI (toll rates are linked to WPI) for 2018-19 is expected to be around 4 percent. The combination of high M&HCV sales and the increase in WPI would result in toll collections witnessing double-digit growth in 2019-20,” he said. ICRA, in its latest study on performance of toll road projects, analysed 48 projects with a median operational track record of six years. Based on the study, it observed that traffic volumes started decelerating in 2012-13 due to prolonged slowdown in economy. “The implied median traffic growth (adjusting the revenues for toll rate hikes) witnessed a de-growth of 2.5 percent in 2013-14. Most of these projects are important arterial routes and were affected in 2013-14 due to a slowdown in manufacturing and mining activity, following a ban on mining of several ores,” it said.     To keep watching India’s No. 1 English Business News Channel – CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News – CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day.