JOIN USUnion Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said total 74 toll plazas on different national highways will be scrapped.
Addressing a seminar here, the minister said till date, 74 such public-funded tolls have been identified where either the investment made on road has been recovered or about to be recovered and out of those 61 have been shut down. Rest will be closed down soon.
Earlier, the minister had asked the officials of the National Highway Authority of India to identify projects of up to Rs 100 crore investments, where either the cost has been recovered or was about to be recovered and projects where collection of toll has become unviable.
“Similarly, projects of investment less than Rs 100 crore under the Public Private Partnership are also being identified and ways are being explored to shut down all such toll plazas post-addressing contractual obligations,” said the minister.
The electronic toll (e-toll) collection system introduced in the country will help save Rs 88,000 crore and cut waiting time at toll plazas significantly, Gadkari quoting a Transport Corporation of India-IIM Kolkata study said. The minister added that out of the 350 toll points on the Mumbai-Delhi route, 140 have been converted into e-toll points. By completion of the e-toll work in the country, this amount of Rs 88,000 crore will be saved.