New highway builders may toll older parallel roads too

Highway developers winning new projects may also be allowed to operate older parallel roads and charge tolls on them, in an effort to reduce toll leakage and attract more investors.

- Subhash Narayan

The Union road ministry has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and other agencies to identify existing roads close to new highway projects that are yet to be awarded, two people aware of the matter said. The goal is to bundle both the old and new roads to the same bidder as a package for maintenance and tolling, the people said on the condition of anonymity.

Drivers tend to avoid new tolled highways when older roads—which are also operated and tolled by NHAI—are available, depressing toll collections and revenue projections on new highways. This risk acts a disincentive to highway bidding, and the ministry’s move aims to plug this gap.