Highways connecting cities have facilitated interstate and intrastate travel for citizens but at the same time, have also raked moolahs.

L&T toll plaza at Gujarat’s Vadodara has the highest collection of tax in the nation, with ₹456 cr of tax collection during 2022-23, as per the data provided through a 2023 Lok Sabha report.   

This toll plaza, situated in Vadodara’s Karjan taluka, has been collecting toll taxes on NH-48 since June 2009.

Being a highway connecting travellers from Mumbai, Valsad, Bharuch, Surat, and other cities, the Vadodara-Bharuch stretch of highway collects toll tax at Karjan toll plaza.

Currently, it collects ₹105 for a single journey and an additional ₹50 for a return journey (within 24 hours).

“The authorities collect the taxes and cover the cost of road construction, and they should use the interest revenue from taxes for maintenance purposes. If they are constantly collecting taxes , where does the interest amount go?” asks Vivek Mehta, a frequent traveller on the Bharuch-Vadodara stretch. 

Toll collection across national highways has seen a rise in revenue over the years, particularly after the launch of FASTag.

“When the system was introduced, the authorities collected double the toll from those who didn’t have FASTag. Sometimes additional amounts were charged from the FASTag if someone  did not have a minimum balance in the FASTag account. These are not legal ways to collect toll,” says Mehta.

As per the report, out of the total toll tax revenue in India, 2% is from Gujarat’s L&T toll plaza at Vadodara and Shahjahanpur toll plaza on NH-8.

Toll plazas across India

As per the data provided in the Lok Sabha report of 2023, 40% revenue is from top 100 toll plazas.

At least 16 toll plazas across the country have earned the most taxes. 

Uttar Pradesh (₹5,583.43 cr) and Rajasthan (₹5,084.50 cr) have collected the highest toll, followed by Maharashtra (₹4,460 cr) and Gujarat, being in fourth position, collected ₹4,519 cr from the toll plazas, including Vadodara’s Karjan, the IRB Choryasi toll plaza in Surat, the Samakhiyali toll plaza in Kutch, and the Vasad toll plaza.

Highest collecting toll plazas 

₹48,028.22 cr toll tax has been collected from the country in 2022-23, states the report. 

In 2015-16, India’s toll plazas collected ₹116 cr tax; which  went down during the COVID-19 pandemic amounting to a collection of ₹46 cr in 2021-22.

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