All national highway toll booths to go barrier-free by March 2027: Nitin Gadkari

Full implementation of electronic toll collection system FASTag will accrue up to Rs 25,000 crore per year to the government, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

The Minister for Road Transport and Highways said all toll booths on national highways will be barrier-free by March 2027.

"When the system will go fully live, then our department alone would deliver a benefit of Rs 20,000-25,000 crore per year to Government of India because of the use of FASags," Gadkari said at the Global Fintech Fest here.

FASTag boosts toll revenue

FASTags have helped increase the toll booth income by 10 per cent or about Rs 7,000 crore to over Rs 82,000 crore now.

The barrier-free toll booths being piloted right now will add another 10 per cent or Rs 7,000-8,000 crore, he said.

Additionally, the operational costs of running a toll booth have reduced to 2-3 per cent from the earlier 12 per cent, he said.

All toll booths to become barrier-free

Gadkari said over 70 per cent of the toll booths will get barrier-free by end of December this year and the number will go up to 100 per cent by March next year.

Vehicle owners also benefit by way of saving of time as the propensity to get stuck at the booths goes down, Gadkari said, pointing to studies saying over Rs 5,250 crore have been saved in fuel costs alone per year.

Gadkari seeks technology to tackle truck overloading

Addressing technologists at the event, Gadkari exhorted the sector to come up with solutions to gauge overloading of trucks.

Meanwhile, the Union minister said that the freight sector in the country lacks transparency and promised to work on the same.

One of the operators has also been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Gadkari added.