In the coming two years the long queues at toll plazas will not be visible. The central government has decided to collect a toll through the Global Positioning System (GPS) and has recently approved the system. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister and MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari have announced that India will be ‘toll-free’ in the next two years. He expressed with faith that this decision would end the traffic congestion at toll plazas and also increase toll revenue.
It is planned to divert the toll money directly from the bank account by tracking the area where the vehicles go. Gadkari said that all the new commercial vehicles have a tracking system installed. Gadkari also said that the government has come up with some plans to install GPS in old vehicles.
Gadkari expects the toll collection will reach to Rs 34,000 crore by next March. He said that if GPS technology will be used for the collection of road tax, the revenue of the National Highways Authority from road tax would increase to Rs 1.34 lakh crore in the next five years.
He opined that public and private investment needs to be encouraged for infrastructure development. He also assured that projects which are not financially viable would be supported by the government. Gadkari expressed his views on national infrastructure for economic revival in key sectors.
Industries need to be decentralized.
Gadkari said industrial development is important for job creation and poverty alleviation in India. The industrial sector has grown more in urban areas. Increasing urbanization is causing serious problems for Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and other cities. To change this, industries need to be decentralized.
