The network of National Highways in the country is expanding rapidly. Besides, toll collection is also continuously increasing at a record level. In response to a question in Parliament, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said that in the last three years, toll worth more than Rs 1.87 lakh crore has been collected from national highways through Fastag. This amount is continuously increasing. If we look at the daily toll collection on this collection, then NHAI collected toll of Rs 171 crore daily from Fastag.
Which states received the highest toll in 2024-25?
- Uttar Pradesh: Rs 6,573.82 crore
- Rajasthan: Rs 6,289.22 crore
- Maharashtra: Rs 6,102.80 crore
- Gujarat: Rs 5,450.20 crore
- Tamil Nadu: Rs 4,459.40 crore
- Karnataka: Rs 4,320.27 crore
- Madhya Pradesh: Rs 4,188.15 crore
- Bihar: Rs 2,036.94 crore
States with lowest toll collection in 2024-25?
- Himachal Pradesh: 171.00
- Jammu and Kashmir: 507.56
- Assam: 547.56
- Kerala: 579.22
- Uttarakhand: 581.73
- Jharkhand: 894.55
Do states get a share of the toll?
Now the question is whether the state governments also get the toll received from the National Highway, then the answer is no, it directly goes into the consolidated net of the Government of India. The budgetary allocation is then spent on the construction, maintenance and expansion of national highways throughout the country.
Some time ago, Kerala had raised the demand that it has contributed about Rs 5,800 crore in the development of national highways, hence it should get its share of toll. But the government said that there is no policy to give separate toll revenue to any state. However, the government admitted that the cost of land acquisition in Kerala was approximately Rs 23,350 crore. Projects given priority with state contribution
How much toll is earned from FASTag?
On July 28, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in response to a question by a Congress Rajya Sabha MP, said that the income from the electronic toll collection system FASTag is also continuously increasing. There was an income of Rs 55,882.12 crore in 2023-24. Rs 61,408.15 crore was received in 2024-25 and Rs 70,278.18 crore was received in 2025-26. That means toll worth Rs 1,87,568.45 crore has been collected through FASTag in just three years.
What is the government’s claim regarding FASTag?
According to the government, from 16 February 2021, all toll plazas on national highways were made FASTag based. Its biggest impact was on waiting time. Earlier, in manual toll, it took an average of 12.23 minutes to pass through the toll plaza. Now through electronic toll collection, vehicles cross the toll in an average of about 40 seconds.
The government says that this saved the time of drivers and also reduced the jam at toll plazas. The government also said that it is using GIS based system to monitor the crowd at toll plazas. However, despite all the claims of the government, the reality is different. Long queues are still seen at toll plazas.
Which system is the government going to implement at toll plazas?
The government is now implementing the Multi Lane Free Flow (MLFF) system. In this, ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), AI based cameras and FASTag (RFID) will together identify the vehicle and the toll will be automatically deducted from the account. In this system, there will be no need to stop the vehicle, there will be no need to slow down the speed, there will be no need to go to any particular lane.
At present this project has been started at 17 toll plazas, out of which 5 plazas are fully operational. These are located in Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. Apart from this, 104 more toll plazas have been identified for this new system. The government also said that it has made many necessary changes in the toll rules so that the financial burden on the drivers can be reduced.
What amendments did the government make in the toll rules?
- An annual pass of Rs 3,000 was implemented for non-commercial cars, jeeps and vans.
- The toll can be crossed 200 times or up to a year.
- On payment through UPI, the extra fee for vehicles without FASTag was reduced from two times to 1.25 times.
This is the next goal of the government
At present the toll system in India is becoming completely digital. The government’s toll income is also continuously increasing and now the next goal is to implement a completely barrier-less toll system. This will save time for drivers, reduce fuel consumption and further reduce traffic jams at toll plazas. With this, people will be able to reach their destination on time.
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