Toll collections soar in August to Rs 99 crore

Mumbai: India is on the move again – and so is its economy. How do we know that? The answer lies in the humble toll booths. Innumerable porta-cabins dotting highways across India are telling us that automated daily toll collections through FASTag, after falling 25% in May from April, have surged – by 45% to Rs 99 crore in August.That’s solid proof of the wheels of economy turning again after a sudden halt in the aftermath of the second Covid wave. In May, daily toll collections had shrunk to a low of Rs 68 crore. August will be the third consecutive month in which average daily toll collection has improved. With the easing of lockdown restrictions and stable demand across key sectors, factory output and industrial production across key sectors have improved. This has improved the pace of business activity. Analysts cite growth in E-way bills as a key variable that explains the growth in average daily toll collections. 86351801E-way bills capture intra-state and inter-state freight movement. According to GST Network, a company providing a database of Goods and Services Tax (GST) filings and transactions, E-way bills increased to 65.89 million units in August from 39.9 million units in May.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3tRTVJH