Transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has called for time-bound, transparent and fast decision making for infrastructure development. He was addressing CII's Annual Meeting 2021 -- 'India@75: Government and Business working together for Atmanirbhar Bharat'.
Gadkari said due to collective team spirit and contribution from all the stakeholders, good results could be achieved despite the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the country has a world record of making 38 km per day but his target is to achieve over 100 km per day.
Also read: No toll booths in highways! Govt to launch GPS-based toll collection system
Talking about GPS-based tracking systems, Gadkari said presentations have been received from international companies and a concrete policy will be formulated within three months. He said within a year, it would be possible to go from Delhi to Dehradun in two hours; Delhi to Haridwar in two hours; Delhi to Chandigarh in two hours; and within six months, it would be possible to go from Delhi to Jaipur in just an hour-and-a-half.
The central government is planning to roll out complete GPS-based toll collection within a year. If this plan follows through, toll booths will be defunct in the country. As per the government data, 93 per cent of vehicles pay toll using FASTag but the remaining 7 per cent are yet to adopt it, despite paying the double toll.
From February 16, the government made it mandatory for vehicles without FASTag to pay double toll at electronic toll plazas. FASTags enable payment to be made electronically ensuring vehicles pass through toll plazas seamlessly. The simple-to-use, reloadable tag allows automatic payment of toll once the vehicle passes through the toll plaza. The tag is linked to a prepaid account, which is used for the transaction. The tag uses Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is pasted on the windscreen.
Also read: FASTags now mandatory; how to buy, tag charges, documents required, all you need to know
Also read: Don't have FASTag? Charges, documents, everything you need to know