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The toll collections are expected to grow at an annual rate of 12-14% in the financial year 2021-22 on the back of a lower base in FY21 as well as the rise in toll rates due to higher inflation, ratings agency ICRA said in a report.
“Overall, the toll collections are expected to witness 12-14% growth in FY2022 on the back of low base and inflation-linked increase in toll rates. The revenue growth is expected to sustain a double-digit growth in FY2023 on the back of significant increase in inflation-linked toll rates,” ICRA Assistant VP & Sector Head Vinay Kumar G said.
According to data by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), toll collections stood at ₹27,744.15 crore in FY21. During FY20 and FY19 toll collections stood at ₹26,850.71 crore and ₹24,396.20 crore, respectively. On a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis, toll collections in FY21 grew a mere 3%, which can be attributed to the impact of the Covid pandemic and the ensuing disruptions.
Also read: Strong bounce back in toll road assets post Covid-19 induced shock: ICRA
Vinay Kumar pointed out that with the sudden and severe onset of the second wave of the pandemic, toll collections were impacted during Q2 calendar year (CY) 2021 because of regional restrictions imposed in several States, along with the increase in wariness, which has adversely affected the overall traffic movement.
With the fall in the number of Covid cases from the third week of May 2021, the States started relaxing the lockdown restrictions in a gradual manner. Unlike Covid 1.0, where traffic resumption was gradual, the toll collection witnessed a V-shaped recovery, post the Covid 2.0 relaxations, he noted.
The toll collections started improving from June 2021 and reached pre-Covid levels in July 2021 as can be observed from e-way bills and fast tag collections in Q3 CY2021, Vinay Kumar said.
Digital mode
The government has been promoting the use of digital modes of payment at toll plazas. To promote payment through digital mode and provide a seamless passage through the fee plaza, the government has declared all lanes of fee plazas on National Highways as FASTag lanes from February 16, 2021. As on December 11, 2021, around 96-97% of total user fee is being collected through FASTag.
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