Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced the implementation of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)--based toll collection system at some selected national highways in the country. The move terminates the existing traditional toll collection methods.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Gadkari said a pilot study on the GNSS-based user fee collection system has been conducted on the Bengaluru-Mysore section of NH-275 in Karnataka and the Panipat-Hisar section of NH-709 in Haryana.
What is GNSS? This is a toll collection system, which is scheduled to be implemented as a pilot project alongside the existing FASTag system on some selected highways in the country. The new system—GNSS aims to enhance efficiency in toll collection operations.
Reportedly, the decision to trial the GNSS-based system initially is driven by the desire to assess its effectiveness and reliability in real-world conditions before full-scale deployment.
GNSS functions on satellite positioning to accurately determine vehicle locations and calculate toll fees accordingly. It offers a potential alternative or complement to existing electronic toll collection methods like FASTag.
The reports also suggest once authorities obtain satisfactory results from the pilot projects on some of the highways, the GNSS-based system is expected to be fully operational. GNSS is aimed at streamlining toll collection processes across more routes in the future.
What Gadkari said additionally? Gadkari said the road ministry has developed a master plan for national highways to enhance logistics. This plan included provisions for expressways and high-speed highways and was prepared under the PM Gatishakti Framework using a transportation model that analyzed data from e-way bills (GST), tolls, and traffic surveys, as per PTI report.
He said 697 national highway projects initiated around a decade ago have exceeded their original completion timelines.
He said the ministry has a series of projects in the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and tendering stages to enhance construction progress during the current and next fiscal years.
