All national highway toll plazas across India to be barrier-free by March 2027, says Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has said that all the toll booths on national highways across India will be barrier-free by March 2027. He also believes that once the barrier-less toll system is fully functional across the country, the government will benefit by ₹25,000 crore every year.

PTI has reported Gadkari saying that FASTags have helped the government increase the toll booth income by 10%, from about ₹7,000 crore to over ₹82,000 crore now. With the barrier-free toll collection system slated to be fully functional across India by March next year, the government is expected to benefit by ₹25,000 crore per year. "When the system will go fully live, then our department alone would deliver a benefit of ₹20,000-25,000 crore per year to the Government of India because of the use of FASTags," Gadkari reportedly said.

According to the minister, the barrier-free toll booths being piloted right now will add another 10% or ₹7,000-8,000 crore. Additionally, the operational costs of running a toll booth have reduced to 2-3% from the earlier 12%, he said.

Gadkari also said that more than 70% of the national highway toll booths across India will get a barrier-free toll collection system by the end of December 2026 and the number will go up to 100% by March next year. He stated that vehicle owners will also benefit from this technology by way of saving time, as the propensity to get stuck at the booths will go down. Pointing to studies, the minister said that more than ₹5,250 crore have been saved in fuel costs alone per year thanks to the FASTags.

Meanwhile, the minister has launched OneTag, which is a facility for FASTag portability. OneTag allows vehicle owners to link their existing FASTag to a new bank account through the Rajmarg Yatra app.

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