New Electronic Toll System to be Effective on Pan-India basis by December
Road Transport and Highways Minister recently stated that once the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system becomes effective on a pan-India basis by December, the country will be able to save as much as Rs. 86000 crore annually.
Estimated Losses:
Lack of computerisation in the electronic toll collection system causes a lot of delay at the toll plazas which result in a fuel loss worth Rs.60,000 crore annually and as much as Rs. 26,000 crore to truckers. This data was compiled by a study conducted by the IIM Kolkata. Nitin Gadkari, the Road Transport and Highways Minister brought forth this data while addressing Millennium Alliance Awards Ceremony organised jointly by FICCI and other bodies.
New Plans:
It has also been estimated that the average waiting time of every vehicle at the toll plazas account of 10 minutes.
Once the electronic system of toll collection is implemented, it is believed that this will eliminate the long waiting time.
- The Electronic Toll Collection System will be affected from December 2014 and will be facilitated by the ICICI and Axis Bank.
- The Minister also proposed plans of converting waste to wealth by making use of the garbage including rotten vegetables at the Azadpur market by converting them to bio-gas and providing fuel which would be sufficient to fuel as many as 1000 buses to run on Delhi Roads.
- He also stated that the government will try running hovercrafts on Yamuna for facilitating better and faster transportation. For this, the government has requested numerous industrial houses to come forward and present their innovative ideas apart from also helping entrepreneurship at rural levels.
The Minister has given out many awards to winners for innovations in the field of education, rural health; sanitation etc. and he stated that innovation and entrepreneurship together can change the face of India thereby leading it to its economic growth. He believes that it is the lack of proper vision and effective development that has hindered the progress of the economy and hampered its growth.
A total funding worth Rs. 20 crore was awarded to twenty innovators by the Board of the Award Ceremony organisors Ficci which comprised of Technology Development board USAID, DFID, ICICI Foundation, ICCO and WISH. The award was based on several parameters that included basic education, affordable healthcare, agriculture/food security, clean energy and water and sanitation.
Source: The Times of India
DFID, Electronic Toll Collection, FICCI, ICCO, ICICI Foundation, Nitin gadkari, pan India, Road transport and highways minister, USAID
