Mumbai, October 28, 2025: India’s highway network has experienced robust growth in toll traffic and revenue in the last two years on the back of increased vehicle throughput and periodic toll rate revisions. Traffic revenue grew by nearly 16 per cent to touch Rs 49,193 crore during the first nine months (January-September) of calendar year 2025 as compared to Rs 42,474 crore January-September 2024. In the same period, toll-paying traffic volumes rose by 12 per cent to 26,864 lakhs as against 23,920 lakhs same period last year.
Nationwide electronic toll collection (ETC) on national highways reached a record high in CY2024 at approximately ₹57,940 crore increasing by nearly 11 per cent from ₹52,316 crore in the previous year. In the same period, toll-paying traffic volumes rose from about 30383 lakhs vehicle transactions in CY2023 to 32515 lakhs in CY2024 – an annual growth of around 7% in overall traffic.
This indicates that while traffic volumes grew strongly, toll revenues grew even faster, partly due to a higher share of heavy vehicles and revised user fees, ICRA Analytics said.
“The country’s highway network has experienced robust growth in toll traffic and revenue over the past two years primarily driven by increased vehicle throughput and periodic toll rate revisions. While traffic volumes have grown strongly in the past two years, toll revenues have grown even faster, partly due to a higher share of heavy vehicles and revised user fees,” Madhubani Sengupta, Head- Knowledge Services, ICRA Analytics, said.
Zone-wise Toll Revenue Weightage
The distribution of toll revenue across India’s regions has remained broadly consistent over the last three years, with a gradual consolidation in the western and southern corridors. The stable regional distribution indicates a balanced traffic flow pattern across India’s highway network, with the western and southern zones consistently contributing over half of national toll revenues.
For the nine-months period January-September 2025, West India continues to lead with nearly 30 per cent of national toll revenues, followed by South (25 per cent) and North (23 per cent). East and Central together contribute about one-quarter of total collections, reflecting steady regional balance.
Another interesting trend to note is the clear divergence between freight-heavy and passenger-dominant regions in India’s toll network. East, Central and West India remain freight-centric, with commercial vehicles contributing over ~50% of total toll traffic.
“This reflects strong industrial and logistics activity along key mining-to-port corridors — such as NH-16 (Kolkata – Chennai) through Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, the NH-53 (Surat – Nagpur – Kolkata) spine linking Chhattisgarh’s mineral belt, and the NH-6 and NH-49 routes serving Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram and Odisha. In the West, heavy-vehicle intensity is led by NH-48 (Delhi – Mumbai corridor) and NH-66 (Mumbai – Goa – Mangalore), which together anchor freight flow between industrial clusters and western ports in Gujarat and Maharashtra — including Mundra, Hazira, JNPT, and Dighi,” Sengupta said.
Corridors like NH-44, NH-47, and NH-52 in Central India carries both long-haul freight and growing inter-city passenger traffic, reflecting the zone’s transition from resource corridor to mixed-use highway network.
In contrast, North and South India continue to be passenger-led, with cars and jeeps forming 65–70 per cent of toll transactions, driven by dense urban clusters, commuter belts, and higher personal vehicle penetration.
“Overall, this pattern underlines India’s multi-modal highway usage, where central, western and eastern corridors propel freight movement, while the north and south facilitate commuter and intercity passenger mobility,” Sengupta added.