“No airport in India has a toll road before it. Why this discrimination against Bengaluru? Toll should be for the Bellary Road after the airport,” Pai wrote on X, tagging Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari.
In a Rajya Sabha response regarding fee collections on national highways, Gadkari revealed that the Devanahalli toll plaza collected Rs 308 crore in revenue during the financial year 2023-24.
Pai’s comment made the platform abuzz, with many users criticizing the government and questioning the fairness of the toll. Some netizens also called for a review of tolls on the NICE Road.
“Very high charges, and the only toll road to an airport, this needs to be abolished,” Pai wrote in another post. As per data, the Devanahalli toll gate has generated Rs1,577 crore over the past decade, making it Karnataka’s highest revenue-generating toll plaza. Its previous peak collection was Rs187 crore in 2018-19. In 2023-24, the second and third-highest toll collections were recorded at the Karjeevanhally toll plaza (Rs 230 crore) and the Guilalu toll plaza (Rs 173 crore).
The issue of alternative routes to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) also came to light. “The alternative non-toll road to the international airport is like a village road, neglected without proper infrastructure,” wrote Anil, an X user. Another commenter described the toll as “the cash cow of Bengaluru.”
One of the citizen groups said, “This is the only toll road to an airport in India, making it a unique kind of highway robbery!”
The Devanahalli toll plaza is at a strategic point along NH 44, a commercial corridor connecting Karnataka to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It sees constant passenger and freight movement due to the close proximity to KIA.
