FASTag to be mandatory in 4 months, says Gadkari

New Delhi, July 16

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said FASTag for motor vehicles would be made mandatory for all in four months. On toll collection, he said: “People have to pay toll if they want good roads in the country.”

Replying to a discussion on demands for grants for the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, Gadkari said his ministry was also working on a new green expressway from New Delhi to Mumbai, which could be covered in 12 hours. It will pass through most backward and tribal areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra and save Rs16,000 crore in land acquisition.

Amid concerns expressed by some members over toll collection, he said the government built 40,000 km of highway in five years and that money was collected through toll from areas that could pay for building roads in rural and hilly areas. To ensure faster rollout of electronic toll collection, FASTags will soon be available at petrol pumps and later they could also be used as cards for buying fuel and paying parking fees, Gadkari had said while launching FASTag. He today made clear that the toll system would never end, though rates may vary from time to time. “Toll is my brainchild… If you want good services, you have to pay for it... The government does not have money,” he said.

However, responding to demands of several MPs, Gadkari said he would consider if school and state transport buses could be exempted. Emphasising on the need for building good quality of highways and roads to boost economy, he referred to former US President John F Kennedy’s quote: “American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good.”

However, calling land acquisition a major problem in road projects, Gadkari urged states to come up with solutions and help find a way. He said his ministry was not moving forward with the project without 80 per cent of land acquisition and this principle was being followed very strictly but the process was “very slow in West Bengal and Bihar”.

Noting that more than 400 projects worth Rs3.85 lakh crore were closed when he assumed charge of the ministry in 2014, Gadkari said the Modi government saved NPAs worth Rs3 lakh crore during the past five years by beginning work on these projects. — TNS