Working on toll policy to give benefits to bus operators using NHs: Gadkari

The Road Transport Ministry is working on a toll policy to provide benefits to state and private bus operators who use national highways. This was stated by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

The government has already introduced a FASTag-based annual pass for non-commercial vehicles, priced at Rs 3,000, effective from August 15, in a step towards hassle-free highway travel. The pass is valid for one year from the date of activation or up to 200 trips, whichever comes first. The pass is designed exclusively for non-commercial private vehicles such as cars, jeeps and vans.

“We are working on a toll policy to provide benefits to state and private bus operators who use national highways,” Gadkari said while addressing BOCI'S Bharat Prawaas Awards.

He also said the government has identified 10 highway stretches in different parts of the country for plying green hydrogen powered trucks with an aim to reduce vehicular pollution.

Gadkari said these stretches would have hydrogen filing stations, set up by India Oil and Reliance Petroleum. He further said Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Volvo had already started making hydrogen-powered trucks. The identified highway stretches include Greater Noida-Delhi-Agra, Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark, Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Surat, Sahibabad-Faridabad-Delhi, Jamshedpur-Kalinganagar, Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi, and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad, among others. Gadkari also said NHAI is building 750 wayside amenities on private land along national highways.

Gadkari on Thursday urged the automobile industry to consider offering additional discounts to customers who submit a scrappage certificate while buying a new vehicle. He said he had requested PM Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to give GST relief to those buying a new vehicle after scrapping the old ones.