Ladhowal toll plaza 7th highest collector in country

Nitin Jain
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, August 3
Reopened on Wednesday after forced closure for 45 days by protesting farmers, the toll plaza on the Jalandhar-Panipat national highway-44 at Ladhowal in Ludhiana is among the leading fee collectors in the country, official figures have revealed.
Ranked seventh highest toll collector among 949 plazas presently operational across the country, the Ladhowal toll plaza has collected nearly Rs 300 crore during the last fiscal (2023-24), the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has confirmed.

With highest user charges in the state, the users of over 80,000 vehicles that pass through this plaza daily are up in arms. Further hike in the toll rates at this barrier since June 3 had led to the massive protest by the Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Union (BKMU), which had forcibly closed this toll plaza since June 16, seeking rationalisation of the user charges.
The toll plaza was made operational on July 31 after the district administration removed the protesters following the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had acted on the petition of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) against its forcible closure.
Inquiries made by The Tribune revealed that this toll plaza had collected Rs 296.37 crore in 2023-24, which was seventh highest collection in the country. The official data available showed that the Ladhowal toll plaza had collected Rs 878.67 crore in the past five financial years. This included the highest collection of Rs 296.37 crore in 2023-24, followed by Rs 247.47 crore in 2022-23, Rs 205.41 crore in 2019-20, Rs 74.07 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 55.35 crore in 2021-22. The low collections for two years were attributed to Covid restrictions.
In a further blow to the users, the NHAI had ordered a 5 per cent hike in the toll fee with effect from June 3. According to the revised rates, the single journey of a car/jeep/van is charged Rs 220, return journey within 24 hours Rs 330 and monthly pass is priced at Rs 7,360.
The light commercial vehicles are charged Rs 355 for single journey, Rs 535 for return, and monthly pass for them costs Rs 11,885. The bus/truck single journey costs Rs 745, return journey Rs 1,120 and monthly pass is made for Rs 24,905.
Similarly, the user charges for heavy and large sized commercial vehicles have also been increased since June 3 with the highest single journey fee of Rs 1,425 charged from seven or more axle vehicles, return journey Rs 2,140, and their monthly pass priced at Rs 47,545.
As per official information, the toll plaza at Ladhowal charges user fee for 115.1-km of the total 328.05-km Jalandhar-Panipat NH-44 stretch, which had begun commercial operations since May 11, 2009.