Toll booths within 60 kms of other booths to be shut in next 3 months: Gadkari

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the government will ensure toll collection points that fall within 60 kilometres (kms) of another toll booth will be closed in the next 3 months.

Replying in the Lok Sabha on the Demands for Grants for Road Transport and Highways Ministry for 2022-23, Gadkar said, "I ensure that there will be only one toll plaza within 60 kms and if there's a second toll plaza, then it will be shut in next 3 months."

The minister also added that the government is considering providing passes to locals having Aadhaar cards who reside near toll plazas.

Besides this, Gadkari also informed the Parliament that rapid strides in technology and green fuel will reduce the cost of electric vehicles (EVs), bringing them at par with petrol-run vehicles in the next two years. He stressed on the need to shift to cost-effective indigenous fuel and hoped that it will become a reality soon, bringing down the pollution levels and improving the overall situation in Delhi.

He also added that road projects worth Rs 62,000 crore have been undertaken in the national capital to ease traffic congestions, and tackle the problem of pollution.

Highlighting the improvement in highway connectivity and road infrastructure, Gadkari said that it now takes only 40 minutes to travel to Meerut from Delhi as against four hours earlier. “Our aim is to reduce the cost of construction and improve the quality,” he said, adding that the milestone of 38 km/day road construction, which is a world record, was achieved by India last year.

Gadkari said that road travel between Delhi to Jaipur, and Delhi to Haridwar now takes 2 hours. Similarly, the travel time from Delhi to Amritsar is now four hours.