Bharthana toll plaza in Gujarat earns Rs 400 crore annually

Bharthana, a toll plaza in Gujarat, has become India's highest-earning toll site, generating Rs 400 crore each year. It is located on the Vadodara-Bharuch section of NH-48, a major route connecting Delhi and Mumbai. The high traffic volume in this area is mainly due to the movement of goods between northern states and western ports. The Shahjahanpur toll plaza in Rajasthan follows closely, bringing in Rs 378 crore annually. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways shared recent data showing that of the 1,063 toll plazas in India, 14 earn over Rs 200 crore per year. Currently, around 45,000 kilometers of the national highway network is under tolling. The impact of the electronic toll collection system, FASTag, has contributed to an increase in toll revenue. Collections doubled from Rs 27,504 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 55,882 crore in the last financial year. Over the past five years, commuters paid a total of Rs 1.9 lakh crore in toll fees. Toll collection is primarily applied to highways with at least two-and-a-half lanes. The government is working to expand tolling to more highways to boost revenue. Uttar Pradesh leads the country with Rs 22,914 crore collected from its 97 toll plazas, while Rajasthan follows with Rs 20,308 crore from its 156 plazas. The tolls tend to be higher where more commercial vehicles are present, as these vehicles pay more than private cars.