Indore | From 2024, the toll-free travel from here to Khandwa or further towards Maharashtra will come to an end. Under the Indore-Akola four-lane National Highway project, preparations are on to construct two toll plazas between here and Ichhapur will be near Bhikupura and Mokalgaon.

Right now this two-lane road is being converted into four lanes and travel between here and Ichhapur will halved to two hours, and Barwaha can be reached in less than an hour. With this, those going to Omkareshwar will fine it easier.

With the widening of the entire section from here to the Maharashtra border by 2024, toll tax collection will start.

One of the reasons for the manifold increase in traffic on the existing Indore-Khandwa road is that at present no toll is levied when there is one on the Indore-Khalghat National Highway connecting Maharashtra. This makes truck drivers generally take this route, creating traffic pressure on the two-lane road.

The National Highways Authority of India has started four-lane work on the 33.4-km stretch from Tejajinagar Junction and the 40.4-km one from Balwara to Dhangaon in 2022. About Rs 1800 crore is being spent on both these projects. Sources said that by 2024 both the stretches.

Indore-Ichhapur two-lane highway was under the Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation Ltd and the contract with the company that built the road expired around 2016, ending the toll.

The Indore-Akola four-lane highway will be converted into six lanes very soon. The two tunnels between here and Balwada and the 1-km long bridge over the Narmada river at Mortakka are being widened to make them six-lane.