If you want good services, you will have to pay: Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday that toll system cannot be ended and that people have to pay if they want good services as the government does not have enough funds.

"Toll system can never end though rates may vary from time to time. Toll is my brainchild. If you want good services, you have to pay for it. The government does not have money," he said in the Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on 'Demands for Grants' under the Road, Transport and Highways Ministry.

The Union Minister stressed that those who can pay toll tax should pay it and that those areas which have the capacity to pay, the money is utilised for building roads in rural and hilly areas.

Gadkari said that over 1.5 lakh people lose their lives every year in road accidents and underlined that the number was higher than the people killed in terror attacks.

The minister said that he will help the MPs in establishing training centres for driving in their respective constituencies.

"We lack 25 lakh drivers. New driving centres should be started especially in economically backward regions," he added.

Gadkari informed the House that the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill will ensure that licences are not duplicated and the culprits are tracked.

He said that India has become a manufacturing hub for the automobile sector and will become the first in the world in electric automobile manufacturing in the next five years.