To “ease traffic congestion” and “reduce air pollution” at Mumbai’s northern entry point, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Tuesday (November 11, 2025) directed officials to present a new proposal for an AI-driven toll collection system to replace the existing Dahisar toll plaza in Mumbai. The move aims to make “toll payment faster” through the use of artificial intelligence technology.

Highlighting the issue of traffic jams caused by the poll plaza at the North entry point of Mumbai, Mr. Sarnaik said, “Every day, the congestion hinders ambulances, school buses and essential services and also adds to pollution, wasting the time of passengers.”

He gave instructions to speed up the payment system at the toll booths during the meeting with Assistant Commissioner of Police Anil Kumbhare (Brihanmumbai Police Commissionerate), Datta Shinde, National Highways (Additional Commissioner of Police Mira-Bhayander), Director of the Authority Anshumali Srivastava, Project Director Suhas Chitnis, Jayant Mhaiskar (Chief Managing Director MEP Infrastructure), N.K. Vengurlekar (Assistant Commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation), Deepak Khambrit (City Engineer, Mira-Bhayander) and other concerned officials.

“The other solution to relocate the plaza has also been discussed, but citizens have opposed it. Considering the opposition, the immediate remedy is to introduce a new toll payment process based on artificial intelligence to avoid crowding at the toll plaza. So proposals should be immediately submitted,” Mr. Sarnaik added.

Published – November 12, 2025 08:20 am IST