Widening of 136 km Salem-Ulundurpet road in Tamil Nadu has been completed and the road developer SU Toll Road Pvt Ltd, a special purpose vehicle of the Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (R-Infra), has started toll collection from the road users. It is built at a cost of Rs 1,061 crore. The road connects major tourist destinations, industrial zones in Salem district and the Chennai airport.    

The road has been widened on build, operate and transfer basis under the aegis of National Highways Authority of India and the developer firm R-Infra has a contract to operate and maintain the road for 25 years. The company expects an increase in traffic of over 4,000 more vehicles per day.    

The new toll plaza is closer to Salem, which is an industrial centre with numerous steel, textiles, cement and electrical equipment manufacturing units.    

Such industrial traffic would benefit from faster and convenient passage through the road, said a top official of R-Infra.