Union Minister for Transport and Highways Nitil Gadkari said the government is saying goodbye to old toll system where vehicles have to wait for longer time in toll plazas to pay their fees creating traffic jams
GNSS-based user fee collection system helps in deducting the toll amount directly from the bank account based on the movement of vehicles.
New Delhi, NFAPost: In a path breaking move, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the implementation of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) – based toll collection system at select national highways, terminating the existing traditional toll collection methods.
The declaration assumes significance as the country is availing National Infrastructure Pipeline critical for economic revival across sectors. The Minister said GNSS-based user fee collection system helps in deducting the toll amount directly from the bank account based on the movement of vehicles.
“A pilot study on the GNSS-based user fee collection system has been conducted on the Bengaluru-Mysore section of NH-275 in Karnataka and the Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709 in Haryana,” said Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
He mentioned that a stakeholder consultation was conducted via an international workshop on June 25, 2024. Additionally, a global expression of interest (EOI) for broader industrial consultation was invited on June 7, 2024, with a submission deadline of July 22, 2024.
The Minister has the view that industrial development is key to employment generation and poverty eradication in India, however at present, industry is India is centralised in urban areas as such decentralisation of industry is imperative to boost growth rate as growing urbanisation is causing grave problems in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and others.
He already expressed his views on the need to promote public-private investment in infrastructure development for faster industrialisation.
The changes in toll collection assumes significance as in the next five years both the centre and the States are working together to transform the transport sector of the country to become $5 trillion dollar economy. Also, there is an exponential rise in the toll collections across India.