Gadkari unveils highway models and advanced toll systems

Plans to transform India’s highways with adaptable construction models and cutting-edge toll systems are unveiled by Nitin Gadkari.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that in order to guarantee completion, the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) highway construction process may be made flexible and market-driven. Presently, under the HAM, developers bear the remaining investment after the government gives them forty percent of the project cost to begin development.

Speaking at an event here, he expressed his belief that contractors should be the ones responsible for developing infrastructure. According to the ministry of roads, transport and highways, under HAM, the government pays for 40 percent of project costs, with the contractor covering the other 40 percent. “If the contractor is ready to invest more than the 60 percent of the project, why should the government always provide 40 percent of the total? Completion is required, and the recommendations ought to be led by the market,” he stated.

Gadkari further stated that after the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based (satellite-based) electronic toll collection system is put into place, the overall toll collection in India will increase by at least ₹ 10,000 crore.  As commercial traffic increased, total toll collection in India reached ₹ 64,809.86 crore in 2023–24, a 35 percent increase over the previous year and above industry and government projections. In an effort to give users of the National Highways a seamless and barrier-free tolling experience, the state-owned NHAI issued an invitation earlier this month to submit expressions of interest from all over the globe for the deployment of GNSS-based (satellite-based) electronic toll collecting.

The goal of the action is to eliminate actual toll booths on roadways. The GNSS-based electronic toll collection (ETC) system will be implemented by NHAI within the current FASTag environment. Initially, a hybrid approach will be used, in which both RFID-based and GNSS-based ETC would function concurrently. Additionally, Gadkari proposed that state-transport buses be released from the requirement to pay tolls on public roads.

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