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<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan clarified on Monday that the toll system in the state will continue as it is not possible for the state government to stop collection of toll on roads now. Meanwhile, indicating a cut in power bills of Mumbai consumers as well, Mr Chavan said that the power consumers in the city would soon get good news regarding their electricity tariff.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">&ldquo;It is impossible to make Maharashtra toll-free at this point of time as we have an agreement with many companies to operate toll booths and maintain the newly&nbsp;built roads under the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP). The state government will have to pay them in thousand of crores if we decide to scrap the agreements, which is financially unviable,&rdquo; Mr Chavan said while talking with select reporters on Sunday evening at his official residence.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The chief minister is of the view that without collecting toll, building of new roads is not possible. He, however, said that the state government was contemplating on making a provision to exclude public transport buses like state transport (ST) from being charged in the upcoming roads under PPP so that the common people don&rsquo;t to have to bear the burden.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Collection of toll on several roads has become a new political issue, as political parties have started opposing toll collection across the state.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">On the issue of slashing electricity tariff of Mumbai, Mr Chavan said, &ldquo;We are trying to figure out a way for the power consumers of Mumbai also. The procedure is on. The Narayan Rane Committee has been asked to provide us the details as to how the government can give relief to Mumbai consumers in their electricity bills.&rdquo;</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The state government recently slashed the electricity tariff by 20 percent of power consumers across Maharashtra except Mumbai, as private players like TATA and Reliance distribute electricity in most parts of Mumbai.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Source-On Request</span></span></span></p>