This comes as good news to motorists in India. The Government of India is planning to scrap 125 toll plazas by the end of this month to give much smoother driving experience, which will directly save fuel.
Currently, the government is in the process of identifying projects where toll collection has become nonviable or the cost of the project has been recovered. As per the plan, around 74 public-funded toll plazas have been identified and 61 plazas have already been shut down. The Ministry of Roads and Highways also plans to make all projects with an investment of less than Rs 100 crore under public-private partnership, toll-free after addressing contractual obligations.
As per the government, waiting time at these toll plazas increases the consumption of fuel, which leads to more oil imports. Rs 60,000 crore was lost on account of various delays at check posts and toll plazas. Of the 350 toll points on the Mumbai-Delhi route, 140 have been converted to e-tolling, which enables cashless collection of charges. With e-tolling, the government could save around Rs 80,000 crore.
We are expecting these 125 toll plazas to be from smaller cities because the construction and maintenance cost is comparatively less. Toll plazas in metro cities usually are clogged during peak hours and we believe that due to the amount of vehicles in the city, fuel loss due to idling the engine could be more. We hope the government takes a note of this and scraps a few major toll plazas in these major cities.
