New Delhi: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari informed Parliament that the state-owned National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) suffered a revenue loss of Rs 2,731.32 CR due to the farmers' protests in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
While replying to a question in the Rajya, Sabha Gadkari presented his answer on Wednesday with this information. He said that the protest started affecting toll collection from October 2020.
He added that the toll plazas in Punjab were initially established non-operational by agitating farmers in October 2020.
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"It eventually expanded to adjoining states of entire Haryana and parts of Rajasthan. Due to farmer agitation overall 60 to 65 NH toll squares suffered. It resulted in loss of toll collection of Rs 2,731 crore," the minister stated.
Gadkari also clarified that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India (MoRTH) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had made endless attempts to operationalize the hit toll plazas through effective communication state government, the maintenance of toll collecting agency etc.
Gadkari also stated that the ministry had set a construction target of 12,000 km of National Highways. Government will complete this project during the Financial Year 2021-22.
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