India Will Become Toll Barrier Free In 2 Years, Says Nitin Gadkari, Announces New GPS-Based Collection System

The Union road transport and highways ministry has planned to implement a new GPS-based collection system within the next two years that is expected to put an end to toll plazas in India.

Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said the new system will ensure seamless movement of vehicles in the country. Under the new system, toll amount will be directly debited from an individual's bank account, based on the movement of vehicles.

Speaking at an Assocham event, the minister said the government has finalised the new GPS system with the help of the Russian government and said that "in two years, India will be toll naka mukt."

Implementation of the new GPS-based toll collection system will curb traffic congestion and allow the centre to save money spent on maintaining toll barriers. It will also increase the toll income of the centre by a substantial margin.

The GPS-based system could support the FASTag-based toll collection that is already in place at national highways to reduce traffic congestion at the toll plazas.

"It may be noted that all commercial vehicles that are manufactured now come with vehicle tracking systems and the government is planning to come up with a mechanism to install GPS technology in older vehicles as well, " Gadkari said.

Once the new GPS-based toll collection system is implemented, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) can see its income from toll collections increase to Rs 1.34 lakh crore in five years.

"By using GPS technology for toll collection we expect that our toll income in next five years will be 1,34,000 crore," Gadkari said. He also expects the toll collections to touch Rs 34,000 crore in this fiscal year.

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