Toll plazas will end, cameras will read the number plates of vehicles, money will be deducted itself... know what is Gadkari's plan

The central government is planning to eliminate toll plazas from the national highway across the country. Giving this information, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government plans that automatic number plate reader cameras will be installed for this, which will automatically read the number plate of the vehicle and toll will be deducted from the account of the owner of the vehicle. Nitin Gadkari said that work is being done on a pilot project for this and legal amendment is also being worked on to facilitate this.

Nitin Gadkari said in a conversation with the Indian Express, in 2019, we had made a rule that cars will come with the number plate installed by the company. Now there is a plan to remove the toll plaza. In its place, cameras will be installed. These cameras will scan the number plate and the money will be deducted directly from the account.

The Union Minister said, there is a problem in this that there is no provision in the law to penalize the vehicle owner who does not pay at the toll plaza. We have to bring it under the law. Gadkari said, we can also bring a provision for cars, in which there is a provision to install number plates in a given time. For this we have to bring a bill.

He said, at present, about 97% of toll collection i.e. Rs 40,000 crore has come through FASTags. Whereas 3% people have paid more than the normal toll rate for not using FASTags. Gadkari said, a vehicle fitted with FASTags takes 47 seconds to pass through the toll.

Government will build road with common man's money

Nitin Gadkari said in FICCI's road and transport program that the government will build roads with the money of the common man. He said, the government will give an opportunity to the common man to invest up to Rs 10 lakh to build a national highway. Laborers, workers, journalists, everyone will be able to invest up to Rs 10 lakh. In return, he will get 7 to 8% interest from the government.

Gadkari said, "I am taking four projects and I have decided that if someone invests up to Rs 10 lakh, then we will ensure that they can give 7 to 8% interest. Labor Minister Bhupendra Yadav on this. When discussed with Key, he said that for this we will give full money because where will we get good returns from it.

He said, we will start with ₹ 10 lakh and after that give an opportunity to the corporate to increase the participation of private sector in the highway and after that if given the opportunity, we will also give place to foreign investment. We will give an opportunity to small investors to invest in the infrastructure sector.

How much profit, how much tax is collected by the government from toll tax.

From this, the income of the government from toll tax can be estimated from this. During the farmers' agitation, 17 toll plazas were closed in different areas of Punjab. Due to the closure of these 17 toll plazas, the government suffered a loss of more than 4 crores in just 6 days, not only these 17 toll plazas, there are a total of 23 toll plazas in Punjab, among them the National Highway Authority of India also suffered a lot.

According to the National Highway Authority of India, the daily toll collection has crossed 104 crores. Releasing a figure, the NHI said that on February 25, more than 64.5 lakh vehicles passed through the toll plaza with a collection of Rs 103.94 crore. FASTag has been made mandatory from 16 February and the vehicle which does not have it will have to pay double at electronic toll plazas across the country.

According to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), there are 566 toll plazas in the country as of March 2020. NHAI has collected about Rs 26,851 crore as toll tax from the toll plazas on the highway from April 2019 to March 2020. In such a situation, NHAI earned Rs 2237 crore as toll tax every month. If we go back a little further and try to understand the earnings, then in the year 2019-20 till 29 February, the central government had earned Rs 7321 crore from toll tax.

If you have read this figure carefully, then you will find that there has been a decrease in the income of the government. If the government is charging more tax then how come there is a reduction in earnings. Most of the toll-blocks are built under the PPP model (Public-Private Partnership). Due to which, along with the private organization, the government's money is also spent on the highway. Due to which some part of the toll tax goes to the government and some part goes to the companies that build the highway.

The government spends the income earned in toll here.

The government also spends the toll tax in making roads, recently the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has recently created a world record by making 25.54 roads in a few hours. 500 workers were working to build the road. The target has been set to complete the construction of this highway by 2021.

NHAI also set a world record for laying the highest amount of concrete on a four-lane highway. The construction of highway projects worth Rs 7.89 lakh crore is going on across the country, Gadkari has given information in this regard. The construction work of 2,084 projects of National Highways is going on across the country. These projects have been given two to three years to complete the work from the date of commencement of work. He said that the cost of these projects for the construction of 63,523 km of highways is Rs 7.89 lakh crore.

How tax is collected

When the highway is ready, the government starts collecting tolls. The government does not collect tax on every road, there are some rules about where the tax will be collected. Tax can be collected on the roads which have lanes. Tax varies depending on the place. The tax depends on the width, length of the road as well as the size of the vehicle. The longer and wider the road, the higher will be the tax. The government also repairs and maintains the road with the money of this tax.

Now what is the mood of the government, how will the toll plazas end?

The government is working on a plan to abolish toll plazas. This means that the current system will end by next year. It is important to understand that toll plazas will end, not tax. Tax collection centers will be replaced by toll plazas. If the existing system ends, then tax will be abolished with GPS. With the help of this, the farther you have traveled, the more the toll will be charged. If someone travels only 35 km, then he will have to pay the same tax. In new vehicles, GPS is being installed by the company.There is a discussion that the government will get GPS installed for free for old vehicles. FASTag will also be used in the new system.