The Union minister of road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, on Wednesday said they will start the electronic toll collection (ETC) system soon across India.

Addressing the media, Gadkari said the system is important to bring transparency in toll collections. ETC has already been installed at 55 toll plazas and their integration with CCH operators has almost been completed on the Delhi-Mumbai route via Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

A pilot project for Interoperable, ETC of 10 toll plazas between Mumbai (Charoti) and Ahmedabad has already been tested and seamless ETC on this section is successfully in operation.

The central government has issued orders to incorporate ETC lanes as a mandatory clause in the contracts awarded for all highways projects in future. Action will be taken to include ETC system by means of supplementary agreement in those projects which have not started.

Gadkari said first year of the Modi government succeeded in controlling inflation. “We will also revise the pending projects and those that are stuck due to red tapism. “The private players were not ready to participate in PPP model as they had lost trust in the previous government,” he said.

Regarding the land bill, Gadkari said, “We have increased compensation for the land so farmers will easily hand over their land for the various projects. It will benefit them as land prices will increase everywhere automatically. So, the bill is a blessing in disguise for them.”

He added, “In Nagpur, coal production increased this year after land was acquired and farmers were paid good money.”

Listing out the achievements of his ministry in the past one year, he said, “We aim at constructing roads worth Rs. 5 lakh crore in the next five years, which will be achieved at any cost. I have already signed on projects worth Rs. 1 lakh crore.”