Roads are becoming smarter even if the people driving on it are not. A set of smart technologies is making construction, maintenance, and traffic management much more efficient.
Fintech giant Paytm claimed it is selling more FASTags than all the banks put together on a daily basis.
Toll collection at some 65 road projects have already stopped.
IHMCL implemented the FASTag electronic tolling of national highways, but due to technical glitches, road ministry is mulling the option of offering this job to a Korean company
While the most obvious beneficiary of this roll-out will be manufacturers of FASTags, or the Radio Frequency Identification chips, a PwC report says implementation of a pan-India electronic toll collection system on national highways may help save approximately Rs 87,000 crore annually.
On the Delhi-Mumbai highway, Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) worth of fuel will be saved annually after the installation of ETC, the minister said.
The intention is to have a model with a single-clearing house.
A few weeks ago, when Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari launched an electronic toll-collection system on the Delhi-Mumbai highway, television channels reported live from toll plazas showing vehicles with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in dedicated lanes that did not have to stop for paying cash.
Though some operators offer the facility of tag lanes, such tags can only be used at designated points.
Indian roads are far more unsafe than its railways. A sense of urgency is required to tackle India's embarrassing record on road safety.
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