In a major development, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday (17 December) announced that the entire nation will be free of toll plazas in the next two years, reports Economic Times.

Gadkari announced that the government with the help of Russia has accepted a GPS based system and in the next two years will begin to collect toll based on the technology. This will ensure seamless movement of vehicles across the nation. He said, “In two years, India will be toll naka (barrier) free.”

Gadkari said that the toll amount will be deducted directly from the bank accounts based on the movement of the vehicles. He also added that once the system is established, the toll income of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is expected to increase to Rs 1,34,000 crore in the next five years. This would be significantly higher than the toll collections of around Rs 24,000 crore achieved in FY20. In the ongoing fiscal, NHAI's toll collections are likely to reach Rs 34,000 crore.

The Road Transport and Highways Minister said that while all the commercial vehicles in the nation come equipped with the vehicle tracking systems, the government will come up with some plan to install the GPS technology in other vehicles.