Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has talked about implementing a new toll policy soon. The new policy and the use of modern technology will not only make Indian highways more advanced, but will also make travel convenient and economical for the passengers.
New Delhi. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that the government is going to implement a uniform toll policy for people traveling on national highways soon. This will give relief to the passengers from the problems related to toll fee. Gadkari claimed that now India’s highway infrastructure has reached the level of America.
Gadkari admitted that the increasing toll fee on national highways has increased dissatisfaction among the passengers. In the last 10 years, the implementation of toll on more and more roads has led to a huge increase in toll fee. Currently, the share of private cars in the total traffic on national highways is 60 percent, but their contribution to toll revenue is only 20-26 percent.
Uniform toll policy will be implemented
In an exclusive interview with PTI-Bhasha, Nitin Gadkari said, “We are working on a uniform toll policy. This will solve the inconveniences faced by commuters and make the toll collection process more transparent and convenient.”
GNSS based toll system will be used
The Union Minister said that the government has decided to implement the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based toll collection system on national highways. This will get rid of the jam at the toll plaza and the toll payment process will be completely hassle-free. Gadkari said that the ministry is also taking seriously the complaints of passengers on social media and taking strict action against negligent contractors.
Record increase in toll collection
According to government data, total toll collection in India reached Rs 64,809.86 crore in 2023-24, which is 35 percent more than the previous year. In the year 2019-20, this figure was Rs 27,503 crore. Gadkari expressed confidence that the Ministry of Road Transport will surpass the previous record of 37 km per day in 2020-21 in the current financial year. So far the ministry has constructed more than 7,000 km of national highways.
Bharatmala project hit by hurdles
Gadkari said that there is a delay in approving new projects under the Bharatmala project. Earlier, the ministry had the authority to approve projects up to Rs 3,000 crore, but now any project above Rs 1,000 crore requires the cabinet’s approval. The minister said, “We have sent projects worth Rs 50-60 thousand crore to the cabinet for approval. Work on these projects will start as soon as approval is received.”
