road-and-transport-news
Divine help rescues NHAI from cash crisis at toll plazas
NEW DELHI: Donations in small currency notes by devotees in some of the big temples, which NHAI officials termed as "divine help", came to the rescue of the highway authority to meet the high demand for loose change by toll operators during the first week of December.
The highways authority collected nearly Rs 90 lakh in small currency notes - Rs 100, 50, 20 and 10 - from temples such as Sheetla Mata Mandir in Gurgaon, Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada, Ambaji temple in Banaskantha in Gujarat and Sai Baba temple in Shirdi as it resumed toll collection on December 2 ending 24 days suspension of collecting user charges from vehicles.
NHAI chairman Yudhvir Malik told TOI that the idea to knock at the doors of temples came after Gurgaon deputy commissioner T L Satyaprakash suggested that the district administration could approach the Sheetla Mata Mandir where a constant stream of devotees donate money in small change. NHAI got nearly Rs 20 lakh from this ancient temple in Delhi's suburb.
Sources said though "currency coupons" were also printed by NHAI as an option to deal with the crisis of small currency notes, there was little requirement to use them.
They added use of these coupons was less that 0.1% of the total transactions in the past one week. "We needed to be prepared for the worst. That was a standby option for us," Malik said.
Read Also : Mines Ministry Inks MoU with Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation
News Must Read
- THDC and UJVNL Joint Venture, TUECO inks MoU with Nagar Nigam Haridwar
- Government Accords 'Navratna' Status to IREDA
- EIL and Mongol Refinery resumed external construction activities at Mongol Refinery Project site
- World's Largest Airport Coming; 5 times bigger than Dubai International Airport
- NTPC inks pact with RINL for supply of limestone
- RBL Bank Q4 Audited Financial results, FY24
- NCL General Manager (Finance) D Sunil Kumar recommended for SECL Director (Finance)
- Bank of Maharashtra Q4 results, Net Profit increased by 44.95 percent to Rs 1,218 crore
- Axis Bank Overtakes Kotak Mahindra Bank to Become India's Fourth Most Valued Lender
- LIC cuts stakes in major PSU stocks