The southern states of India - Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala account for only 19% of the total National Highways in India. Yet, they end up paying 28% of the total toll revenue, according to the latest numbers from a CAG audit report.
The southern states contributed ₹28,523.88 crore (28.75 per cent) of the toll revenue earned by NHAI during the four years from 2017-18 to 2020-21.
The share of the five states ranged from a high of 30% in the year 2017-18 to a low of 28% during 2019-20. The total toll revenue of the five states declined in 2018-19.
Within the southern block, Tamil Nadu contributed the highest to the toll revenue at Rs 2,400 crores per year followed by Andhra Pradesh at Rs 1,950 crores and Karnataka at Rs 1,830 crores.
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Meanwhile, Telangana collected Rs 1,040 crores and Kerala collected the lowest at Rs 180 crores.
Surprisingly, there was no sharp decline in toll collection even during the Covid-19 pandemic in South India.
The toll collections in the states fell by 2% to Rs 7,455 crores during the pandemic, while all-India toll collections fell by 3.1% to Rs 26,030 crores.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh witnessed a slight increase in their toll revenue during the pandemic. Telangana collected Rs 1,043 crores in 2020-21, up from Rs 1,016 crores in the previous year.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh saw collections increase sharply to Rs 1,957 crores in 2020-21 from Rs 1,778 crores in the previous year.
However, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala recorded a dip in their total toll revenue during the pandemic.