Festivals take e-toll collections to a record ₹6,000 crore in October

New Delhi: Electronic toll collection in India totalled ₹6,114.92 crore in October, the highest in a month since the collation of data from 2021 and 7.6% higher than the monthly average of ₹5,681.46 crore over the previous six months, according to government data, signalling robust economic activity during the festive month.

Total electronic toll collection in the country in the first six months of this financial year stood at ₹34,088.77 crore, up 9.8% from ₹31,026.64 crore a year ago.

A senior government official said the toll collection in October reflected a surge in both business activity and personal road travel, as Dussehra and Diwali fell in the same month. Electronic toll collection was up 8.8% month-on-month from ₹5,620.48 crore collected in September and 10.4% higher than ₹5,539.20 crore collected a year ago. Increased passenger vehicle movement for festive celebrations, especially toward month-end, added to the toll collection in October, said Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, global head of consulting, Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics.

"Heightened goods transportation to retail outlets at the start of the month to stock for the season and continuous highway traffic for e-commerce deliveries throughout October significantly fuelled toll collection last month," Padmanabhan said.

The India Economic Outlook, 2024 by Deloitte projected a rebound in rural consumption spending due to moderating inflation.

"Better rainfall (over June to September, precipitation in the country as a whole was 109% of its long-period average in 2020, and it has been the third highest since 1994) and all-time high production and stock of kharif crops (such as rice and paddy sown during the monsoon season from June to August) point to robust agricultural output this year, thereby further pushing rural demand," it said, adding that this was likely to factor into spending during festive months and beyond.