Commercial activity includes building commercial complexes, resorts, multiplexes, hotels and motels among others.

The state government will bring an official Bill to this effect during the 10-day Assembly session commencing on February 17. It will seek a vote-on-account instead of presenting a full-fledged budget for the year 2009-10 in view of the coming Lok Sabha elections.

“We have already prepared a draft Bill envisaging to levy betterment charges from prospective private developers who will be invited to undertake commercial activity on both sides of the national as well as state highways. The draft Bill has been sent to the Legal Department for scrutiny,” a senior official in the Roads and Building Department said on Friday.

The official further said that a move initiated earlier by his department to do away with toll plazas, once a new law seeking to levy betterment charges from private players is enacted, has been dropped. The revenue proposed to be generated from better charges will be utilised to maintain the roads, he added.

The R&B official said the government proposed to encourage private developers to purchase land from farmers and create commercial facilities within the 200-metre radius on both sides of highways.

At present, private parties are often found to be undertaking commercial activity along highways in an unplanned manner, which not only hamper the movement of vehicular traffic, but also become prone to road accidents, he said.