Gadkari Calls for Flexible Highway Construction

New Delhi, Jun 25 (PTI) Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the construction of highways under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) could be made flexible and market driven to ensure completion.

Currently, under the HAM, the government provides 40 per cent of the project cost to developers to start work while the remaining investments are made by the developers.

"I am of the view that infrastructure should be developed by the contractors," he said, while speaking at an event here.

The road transport and highways minister said under HAM, 40 per cent of project cost is provided by the government and the remaining by the contractor.

"Why should the government always provide 40 per cent even if the contractor is willing to invest more than the 60 per cent of the project? What is needed is completion and the proposals should be market-driven," he said.

Gadkari also said the total toll collection in India will rise by at least Rs 10,000 crore after implementation of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based (satellite-based) electronic toll collection.

Total toll collection in India touched Rs 64,809.86 crore in 2023-24, a 35 per cent rise over the previous year, surpassing government and industry estimates, as commercial traffic surged.

Earlier this month, state-owned NHAI has invited expressions of interest from around the world for implementation of GNSS-based (satellite-based) electronic toll collection to provide seamless and barrier-free tolling experience on National Highways users.

The move is aimed at putting an end to physical toll booth on highways.

NHAI plans to implement the GNSS-based electronic toll collection (ETC) system within the existing FASTag ecosystem, initially using a hybrid model where both RFID-based ETC and GNSS-based ETC will operate simultaneously.

Gadkari also suggested that state-transport buses should be exempted from paying toll on highways.