The toll plaza near the airport collects a toll for the 22-km stretch from people travelling from and to the airport. A look at the toll collection trends in the 322 national highways in India shows the Bengaluru stretch figures among the top five in the country in terms of revenues recorded.
No other toll road in the South has crossed the Rs 300 crore collection mark in user fee that Sadahalli reported. There are only two three toll plazas such as Bharthana in Gujarat and Barajore in Uttar Pradesh that have reported higher collection figures at Rs 472 crore and Rs 364 crore, respectively, for 2023-24.
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari shared the highway-wise toll collection details in the Rajya Sabha early this month.
There are two types of highways, ones that are public funded and the others operated by private players under the public private partnership (PPP) model. Karnataka (33) has the largest number of highways under the PPP model, followed by Tamil Nadu (30), Andhra Pradesh (19), Telangana (five) and Kerala (four).
As for the total highways, Tamil Nadu however tops (71) followed by Andhra Pradesh (70), Karnataka (56), Telangana (35) and Kerala (9).The Sadahalli toll plaza has seen a meteoric rise in collections over the years to reach Rs 308 crore in 2023-24.There was a dip in revenues in the Covid-19 years of 2020-21 and 2021-22. Several airport road users including venture capitalist Mohandas Pai and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw have called for an end to toll collection on grounds that no other city has a toll road to the airport. Pai said over the past 10 years, the airport stretch has yielded Rs 1577 crore in revenues, while urging the Centre to stop the toll.
State-wise highways with highest toll collections
| State | Toll Plaza | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
| Andhra Pradesh | Vempadu | Rs 162 Cr | Rs 298 Cr | Rs 219 Cr |
| Karnataka | Sadahalli | Rs 83 Cr | Rs 108 Cr | Rs 308 Cr |
| Kerala | Paniyankkara | Rs 116 Cr | Rs 162 Cr | Rs 186 Cr |
| Tamil Nadu | Krishnagiri | Rs 213 Cr | Rs 261 Cr | Rs 269 Cr |
| Telangana | Patangi | Rs 147 Cr | Rs 187 Cr | Rs 206 Cr |
(Source: Rajya Sabha reply)
