The shift to satellite-based tolloing on Indian highways could add Rs 10,000 crore annually to toll revenues, minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.
He said even after implementation of Fasttag, there have been leakages that the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can plug. Currently. total toll collection on Indian highways is Rs 54,750 crore.
Gadkari said there are 7.2 crore four wheelers and 4 crore trucks but only 9 crore Fastags. So 25% of eligible vehicles are out of Fasttag system. He said the new system will ensure atleast 99% collection.
The Indian Highways Management Company Ltd (IHMCL), a subsidiary of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has invited global bids for procurement of robust, scalable and efficient Toll Charger Software.
The Request for Proposal will be issued for the system by July, chairman and managing director of IHMCL Vishal Chauhan said at the workshop on GNSS.
He said initially 5000 km of highways have identified for implementation of satellite-based toll collection and it would be made operational on few stretches by December.
By end of the financial year few pilots of the new tolling system will be there.
As per the EoI document the government plans to go live with the GNSS on 2000 km in the first three months of signing the contract and go live pan-India in 24 months. Initially dedicated lanes for GNSS have been proposed. As GNSS-based electronic toll collection becomes more widespread, all lanes will eventually be converted to GNSS lanes.
GNSS implementation will address the complaint of waiting at toll plazas and being charged a flat amount for travelling on a highway stretch even if the vehicle gets off midway.
The last date for submitting tye EoI is 22nd July.
Germany was the first country to introduce GNSS-based truck tolling in 2005. Since then it has been expanded to other Asian and European countries, US, Russia and many others. The workshop saw participation of vendors and technology providers from the countries that have successfully implemented the system.
At present, user fee is collected for approximately 45,000 km of national highways and expressways at 1200 toll plazas maintained by NHAI and its concessionaires. The length of highways on which toll is collected is expected to go up to around 1,00,000 km in next 10 years.