Among the total functional plazas across the country, at least five toll plazas have earned more than Rs 1 crore daily on an average in the last financial year, analysis reveals. These toll plazas are situated one each in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
As per the data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the toll plaza at Bharthana in Gujarat has collected the highest toll in the financial year 2023-24 at Rs 472.65 crore. The same plaza has also collected the highest toll each year in the last five financial years. The plaza has collected Rs 2,043.80 crore in the five-year period between 2019-20 and 2023-24. The total toll collected included both Electronic toll Collection (ETC) and cash payments.
With Rs 1,884.45 crore collected in the five-year period, Shahjahanpur plaza in Rajasthan has earned the second-highest toll among the 983 function plazas. In the year 2023-24, it collected Rs 429.65 crore, also the second-highest.
With a toll collection of Rs 400.26 crore, Gharonda toll in Haryana was the third-highest, followed by Jaladhulagori (Rs 364.23 crore) in West Bengal and Barajore (Rs 364.69 crore) in Uttar Pradesh for the last financial year.
Across the country, toll fees worth Rs 1.94 lakh crore was collected between 2019-20 and 2023-24. Across the states, toll plazas in Uttar Pradesh (Rs 23,736.45 crore) have contributed the highest. Interestingly, the highest number of toll plazas across the country are in Rajasthan — 142 — while Uttar Pradesh is second with 102 plazas.
Toll plazas in Rajasthan are at the second position in terms of collection with Rs 21,887.88 crore. Maharashtra was next in line with a collection of Rs 18,703.39 crore in the last five financial years.
It is important to note that all national highways fee plazas are being operated as per the applicable National Highways Fee Rules/Concession Agreement.
Five toll plazas in Gujarat — Bharthana, Vasad, Boriach, Samakhiyali, and Choryasi — collectively received Rs 6,254.24 crore as toll fees, accountable for almost 35 per cent of the toll collected across national highways in Gujarat (Rs 18,442.5 crore).
In the last five financial years, 457 toll plazas on national highways were constructed, including 107 built in 2022-23 alone. At least 58 were added in Rajasthan and 57 in Madhya Pradesh. In Uttar Pradesh, 52 new toll plazas were built between 2019-20 and 2023-24.
The ministry data also shows that as of June 30, a total of 983 user fee plazas are functional on National Highways across India. Of these 983 plazas, 649 are public funded and 334 are based on Public Private Participation. In the case of Public Funded/Annuity, the government collects the user fee by engaging the contractors through competitive e-bidding. In private investment, the concessionaire collects the user fee.
In India, the tolling is generally under the open system, whereby fee payable is a fixed amount based on the length of stretch under one project which is normally 60 kilometers. If a stretch is of lesser length, user fee of actual length only is collected.
User fee on a particular fee plaza is based on stretch length under that plaza, structures (bridge, tunnel, bypass) and width of the highways, applicable fee rules and provisions of the concessions’ agreement.
Vehicles are categorised for the welfare of road users. This categorisation is primarily based on the size and load they carry and damage done to the road and type of use (commercial/personnel) of a vehicle.