NHAI opens first automatic toll plaza on Sonepat-Bawana highway

The first booth-less toll plaza on National Highway (NH)-334P under the Urban Extension Road (UER) project was inaugurated near Jhinjholi village in Sonepat district on Thursday. The toll collection system at the Jhinjholi toll plaza is fully automatic, with sensors deducting the toll charges directly from commuters' accounts.

Commuters traveling the 29.6-km stretch between Sonepat and Bawana in Delhi will be charged Rs 65. In addition to the automated toll lanes, a cash lane has been developed on both sides of the plaza for those without digital payment options.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) constructed the Rs 694-crore, four-lane NH-334P, which stretches from Barwasni village in Sonepat to Bawana in Delhi. The highway is linked with NH-352A near Barwasni and connects to the Dwarka Expressway (UER-2) in Delhi.

The new road will benefit commuters from Sonepat, Jind, Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, providing improved connectivity to the Indira Gandhi International Airport and Gurugram via NH-44.

Jagbhushan, Project Director, NHAI, said, “The booth-less toll plaza on NH-334P near Jhinjholi village started operations today. As vehicles enter the sensor range, the toll is automatically deducted and the barrier lifts without manual intervention.”

Equipped with advanced toll management and radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, the plaza ensures a seamless experience. Work on integrating automatic number plate readers is also underway to further enhance the system's efficiency.

This automated toll collection system represents a significant step towards modernising toll management on Indian highways, improving convenience for commuters while reducing traffic congestion at toll plazas.