India looks at ways to use growing toll revenue

India’s ministry of road transport and highways has embarked on an exercise to see if the government can build more roads through its own resources using the revenue from toll collection. The ministry and the National Highways Authority of India are both flush with cash as more roads have come under tolling. Officials are considering moving away from public-private partnerships until economic conditions improve. Instead they are considering cash-contracts for new road construction and leveraging debt bas
April 10, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
RSSIndia’s ministry of road transport and highways has embarked on an exercise to see if the government can build more roads through its own resources using the revenue from toll collection.

The ministry and the 4855 National Highways Authority of India are both flush with cash as more roads have come under tolling. Officials are considering moving away from public-private partnerships until economic conditions improve. Instead they are considering cash-contracts for new road construction and leveraging debt based on the toll revenue.

Since 2004, the length of toll roads has increased from 1,826 kilometres to 6,660 kilometres for public-funded projects and from 70.35 kilometres to 6,585 kilometres for Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects. This has led to a 700 per cent increase in total toll collection in the period 2004-2005 to 2012-2013. About 63 per cent of this revenue comes from public-funded projects.

Officials say the growth in toll revenue means they have enough money to go ahead with road projects using their own resources.  They also plan to deploy more toll roads to maximise earnings and plough the revenue back into road construction.
Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Confusing funding and financing can be costly
    September 23, 2014
    Tolling may be the way forward for paying for the roads of the future - but where will concessionaires find the money and do they need funding or financing? Increasingly, governments around the world are concluding that they can no longer pay for new roads and are turning to the private sector for help.
    Read More
  • Tolling faces up to unprecedented challenge
    October 9, 2020
    The next five years are likely to see a number of changes – but the tolling industry will be equal to them, thinks the IBTTA’s Bill Cramer. The best minds in the business are on the case…
    Read More
  • Commuting habits come under scrutiny
    March 28, 2017
    Cities have a moral responsibility to encourage the smart use of transportation and Andrew Bardin Williams hears a few suggestions. Given the choice of getting a root canal, doing household chores, filing taxes, eating anchovies or commuting to work, nearly two-thirds of Americans said that they wouldn’t mind commuting into work—at least according to a poll conducted by Xerox (now Conduent) over its social media channels at the end of 2016.
    Read More
  • VMS can counter small screens’ big problems
    June 9, 2015
    Lacroix Trafic’s Steve Collins believes the improving trends in road safety could go into reverse unless authorities make full use of the latest LED technology to meet drivers’ information needs. Road authorities and vehicles manufacturers could and should be far more active in countering some of the transportation industry’s major problems, according to Steve Collins export sales director at Lacroix Trafic.
    Read More

Highlighted Content