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RDA seeks share of fuel revenue to maintain roads
The Road Development Authority (RDA) is to seek a share from the revenue gained by the sale of fuel for vehicles to boost its funds to maintain the road network in the country. A proposal to this effect will be submitted to the Cabinet by the Highways, Road Development and Petroleum Resources Development Ministry to allocate 50 cts to the Road Management Trust Fund from each litre of petrol or diesel sold.
The Road Management Trust Fund allocations are used to maint RDA roads and those that come under local authorities. An RDA official said that usually RDA sought an allocation of more than Rs 300 billion as capital expenditure, but the actual allocation was half the amount, prompting it to seek funds from other ministries at the end of the year to complete road projects.
He said, if the proposal was accepted by the Cabinet and implemented, the RDA could obtain an additional Rs 50 billion a year and this could be made use for road maintenance. The proposal was mooted earlier when the Highways and the Petroleum Resources were under two different ministries and approval for the proposal was delayed.
However, a Ministry official said that as both Highways and Petroleum were now under the same ministry it would be easier to implement the proposed project.