New Delhi: India’s toll revenue is likely to swell to Rs 1,00,000 crore annually in the next five years on the back of initiatives like electronic toll collection programme, which is being implemented pan-India to remove bottlenecks, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari said Monday.
Gadkari minister said that of the total 1.4 lakh km highways under National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), 24,996 km of highways currently are under the toll ambit and the length will swell to 27,000 km by the year-end.
The minister said that December 1, 2019, onwards, toll payments will be via FASTag only under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme, the flagship initiative of the ministry which is being implemented pan-India to remove bottlenecks and ensure seamless movement of traffic.
Besides, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stress for transport system reforms, the GST Council has accorded in-principle approval for integration of GST EWay Bill system and a pact has also been inked.
“Our toll revenue is Rs 30,000 crore per annum… As we are constructing more roads, we will move forward with the target in such a manner that in the next five years, the income from tolls rise to Rs 1,00,000 crore every year. If we get such revenues, we can get loans from banks and raise more money from markets and invest in more projects,” Nitin Gadkari said.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference on ‘One National One Tag – FAST FASTag – Aadhaar for a Vehicle’ to roll out the process for having a unified electronic system across the country, Gadkari said there was no dearth of resources and 75 per cent of the projects under National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) were viable for financing by banks.
The cashless system will not only save time but also result in huge savings to the GDP by reducing delays at toll plazas and cutting down on vehicle fuel.
The minister further said that efforts are being carried out to enable usage of FASTag for making various vehicle-related payments apart from toll payments. Gadkari also launched a prepaid ‘NHAI Wallet’ for FASTag. He said electronic toll collection will not only minimise time but will also result in higher security as photos of passengers can be taken at toll plazas.
PTI
