National Highway in Tamil Nadu Becomes Toll Road, Collecting Rs 36 Crore from Motorists

With a slight change, a national highway in Tamil Nadu has become a toll road, and motorists are paying exorbitant toll charges for a road they have contributed to through taxes. Barely 1.5 meters of closure on both sides, with a little bit of widening, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has converted the 110 km stretch of Vellore-Tiruvannamalai-Villupuram National Highway (NH-234) into a tolled road. As a result, tolls have been collected at three toll plazas Vallam, Enamkariyanandal, and Thennamadevi.

Around Rs 36 crore has been collected from April 2023 to November 2024 since toll collection started, according to data received through an RTI query. The collection was made in only 20 months with an average monthly collection of Rs 1.82 crore. Significantly, Rs 273 crore was the entire fund spent by the central government to develop the road, where no bank loan was part of the project and the funds were arranged solely from MoRTH.

It remains a matter of concern that on a highway funded partially with their own money through taxes(cess on petrol and diesel under the Central Road Fund) and fees to register vehicles and obtain licenses, the motorists find themselves paying toll fees.

The road is a two-lane road that was expanded during construction which took place from 2018 to 2023 from 5 meters to 8.5 meters. But despite its tolls, the road design has come under fire. The road is poorly designed, and the toll plazas do not have the necessary facilities, complain some motorists.

Roads that are improved with government funds can host toll plazas as per the NH Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules 2008, state highways officials in NH said. Once transferred to MoRTH, the state government did not need to approve for the conversion into a tolled.