New policy on tolls before April 1: Nitin Gadkari at BT MindRush

Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday that the government is set to introduce a national policy for tolling on national highways that will ensure reasonable concession, which will greatly relieve commuters.  

Speaking at the BT MindRush 2025 in Mumbai, the union minister said the policy is ready and is expected to be announced before April 1. He did not share more details related to the policy but that people will not bicker anymore on tolling rates on national highways.    

“I will declare a policy on tolls before April 1. It will offer reasonable concession to commuters,” said Gadkari.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, the minister said that the government is planning to introduce an annual pass system to replace toll collection on national highways, enhancing operational efficiency and promoting convenience for road users.

The transport ministry has also invited Request for Proposal (RFP) to implement Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) FASTag System-based barrier-free tolling system on the fee plazas of “Gharonda, Choryasi, Nemili, UER-II and Dwarka Expressway”, with the possibility of implementing it on other fee plazas in a phased manner depending upon the outcomes and efficacy of the implementation on these projects.

Speaking at the event, Gadkari said that there is no dearth of money but there is a need to increase the spending of the budgetary allocation.   

“Presently, the NHAI toll income is Rs 55000 core and next two years, it will be 1.40 lakh crore. I have a project worth Rs 5 lakh crore for monetisation and budget support of Rs 2.80 lakh crore. I want to increase the speed of spending which gets delayed to environment clearances and land acquisition,” he said.

The minister said he would want poor people to invest in highway construction and would offer an interest of 8.05% compared to 4.5% offered by banks on deposits.  He also talked about 36 green express highways being constructed to cut down on logistics costs drastically.