Madhya Pradesh waives harvester toll, clears 2 open-access greenfield highway projects

Bhopal: In a key decision on Wednesday, the board of the Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC), chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, approved a toll exemption for combine harvesters used for agricultural purposes across MPRDC-operated toll plazas. During the meeting, the board also cleared two non-access-controlled greenfield highway projects, further strengthening the state’s road infrastructure.

CM Yadav said the state government remains committed to farmers’ welfare, noting that the MPRDC decided to exempt toll charges at the corporation’s toll plazas across the state for combine harvesters used for agricultural purposes.

This move aims to reduce the operational costs for farmers during the harvest season and ensure that agricultural machinery can be transported more efficiently across the state.

Framing 2026 as the “Farmer Welfare Year,” the Chief Minister said the decision aligns with the vision of “Prosperous Farmer–Prosperous State,” with multiple policy measures being rolled out in farmers’ interest. He noted that combine harvesters are essential agricultural machinery used during crop harvesting, and exempting them from toll charges would reduce transportation costs, ultimately benefiting farmers through better price realisation of agricultural produce.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the corporation’s board of directors held at the Chief Minister’s residence. Vice-Chairpersons of the board, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Rakesh Singh, Chief Secretary Anurag Jain, Managing Director of the MPRDC Bharat Yadav, and Principal Secretary of PWD Sukhbir Singh were present.

In the same meeting, the board approved the construction of the Indore–Ujjain and Ujjain–Jaora greenfield road projects as non-access-controlled corridors. It also granted in-principle approval to a revised alignment for the western Bhopal bypass project.

The board further reviewed annual accounts and deliberated on various administrative matters.

Senior officials, including Additional Chief Secretaries Sanjay Dubey and Manish Rastogi and Principal Secretary Sandeep Yadav (Forest), attended the meeting.