ISLAMABAD, Dec 29: Federal Minister for Communications Ahmed Ali told the National Assembly on Monday that the government had collected Rs430.38 million revenue from 11 interchanges on Lahore-Islamabad Motorway during the current year.

In a written reply to a question raised by MMA MNA Mohammad Hanif Abbasi, the minister said last year the government had collected over Rs470 million.

Giving yearwise break-up, the minister said Rs390.72 million were collected in 2001 and Rs270.66 million in 2000. In this way, a total of Rs1.578 billion had been collected in the past four years, he added.

He said in 2003, out of Rs430.38 million, an amount of Rs120.88 million was collected from the Islamabad interchange. Following are the amounts collected from other 10 interchanges on the motorway in 2003:

Chakri (Rs3.49 million); Balkasar (Rs20.07m); Kallar Kahar (Rs10.48m); Lilla (Rs10.33m); Bhera (Rs9.50m); Salam (Rs30.26m); Kot Momin (Rs10.07m); Pindi Bhattian (Rs70.96m); Sheikhupura (Rs20.74m) and Lahore (90.24m).

Replying to another question of Mr Abbasi, the minister told the House that Daewoo Pakistan Motorway Service Areas Limited (DPMSL) was responsible for fixing the rates of eatables being sold at the restaurants and hotels, established on the Lahore- Islamabad Motorway. He accepted that the rates of various items were higher than that of other markets.

In reply to a question of PML-N MNA Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali, the minister said Rs290.39 million were collected from five toll plazas situated on National Highways between Lahore and Dera Ghazi Khan 2002-3. In the year 2001-2, he said, Rs230.13 million had been collected from the same toll plazas. He said out of Rs290.39m, collected last year, the share of the National Highway Authority was Rs230.07 million as Rs60.32 million was released by the authority as a share to the toll operators.

In reply to another question of the PML-N MNA, the minister said the initial estimated cost for the construction of Faisalabad-Pindi Bhattian section of the Motorway was Rs4.2 billion and so far Rs4.8 billion had already been spent. He informed the House that another Rs100 was expected to be spent on the remaining work.