The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is starting a new toll plaza at Lakhanpur, the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir, in Kathua district from July 21, the day this year’s curtailed Amarnath Yatra is proposed to begin. The NHAI has signed a letter of agreement (LoA) for the operationalisation of the plaza with the Haryana-based Ranchordas Company. With this, all Kashmir-bound tourists and Vaishno Devi pilgrims entering or leaving J&K will have to shell out extra money at three toll posts -Thandi Khui toll plaza, Ban toll plaza and Lakhanpur toll plaza.
As per the toll fee fixed by the NHAI at the Lakhanpur toll plaza, the light motor vehicles will be charged Rs 85 for single journey and Rs 130 for return journey within 24 hours. Similarly, a mini-bus will be charged Rs 140 for single and Rs 205 for double entry, while bus/truck (two axle) will be charged Rs 290 for single and Rs 435 for double entry. From January 1, the UT administration had abolished all inter-state minor toll posts, including the Lakhanpur toll post to fully implement the idea of “one nation, one tax” post the GST regime after scrapping J&K’s special status and its division into two UTs.