Kolkata, Oct 16: A Japanese delegation visited the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling system in Mundka-Bakkarwala on Friday on the sidelines of the 12th India–Japan Joint Working Group Meeting on Roads and Road Transportation.

The MLFF system provided insights into India’s technology-driven initiatives for seamless and efficient highway travel.

At the MLFFs, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) uses a combination of RFID-based FASTag electronic toll collection, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and AI analytics to allow vehicles to pass through charging points without stopping, slowing down or remaining in a designated lane.

MLFFs have already been installed at Choryasi in Gujarat, Mundka in Delhi, Gharaunda in Haryana and Daulatpura and Manoharpura in Rajasthan.

While 12 further locations have been awarded for conversion, tenders have also been launched covering an additional 104 toll plazas around the country.

The MLFF at Choryasi on the Surat–Bharuch section of NH-48 was the first to become operational.

The one at Mundka on Delhi’s Urban Extension Road-II was the second.

The expansion plan represents a significant shift from India’s traditional barrier-based toll plazas.

Rather than moving immediately to satellite-based toll collection, the Indian government has opted to build on the country’s established FASTag system and combine it with ANPR and AI.

Expert committees had recommended further consideration of GPS-based barrier-free tolling because of security, privacy and operational control issues, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has indicated.

FASTag and ANPR/AI was thus selected as the technology for the current MLFF programme.

The session of the India–Japan Joint Working Group on Roads and Road Transportation Sector was successfully held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

Discussions focused on advanced construction technologies, bridge and tunnel engineering, sustainable infrastructure and digital innovations, fostering the exchange of technical expertise and best practices.

“The meeting reaffirmed both nations’ commitment to safe, sustainable and technology-driven road infrastructure, aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Washington, Oct 16: A long-awaited trade agreement between India and the United States is almost complete, with only one or two per cent of negotiations remaining, a senior US official said, signalling that the two countries are approaching a breakthrough after months of high-level discussions.

The official said the biggest issues had already been resolved and that negotiations were continuing at the highest political levels, including between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The biggest items have been settled. I mean …., it’s pretty much done. We have that one, one or two per cent left,” the official told reporters during a State Department briefing on Friday.

The remarks came ahead of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s scheduled visit to India, where he will hold discussions with Indian government officials and leading business executives in Mumbai and Jamnagar.

The official said the two governments remained in constant contact over the proposed agreement.

“We are actively engaged every single week,” the official said, adding that high-level discussions on the trade deal were taking place regularly.

The official cited recent diplomatic engagements involving US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and conversations between Trump and PM Modi as evidence of the momentum behind the negotiations.

However, the official also identified a significant complication that had delayed the agreement.

An earlier understanding had been linked to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, but the legal framework had to be reconsidered after the law was struck down, according to the official.

The development forced negotiators to revisit elements of the proposed agreement and contributed to several additional months of discussions.

Despite those complications, the official expressed optimism that the remaining differences could be resolved soon.

Rubio is scheduled to travel first to Uzbekistan for meetings with Central Asian leaders before proceeding to India.

In Mumbai, he will meet Indian government counterparts and senior executives from some of the country’s largest companies.

The official said the decision to visit Mumbai rather than New Delhi reflected the administration’s growing emphasis on commercial diplomacy and Indian investment in the United States.

Rubio will also travel to Jamnagar.

The official said Washington was seeking closer engagement with India across information technology, pharmaceuticals, defence cooperation and other sectors.

Further visits by senior American Cabinet officials are also anticipated next year as both governments seek to expand bilateral engagement.

New Delhi, Oct 16: Domestic equity benchmark indices traded lower on Friday, tracking mixed global cues, while information technology (IT) shares supported the market with gains.

In early deals, Sensex was trading 0.29 per cent or 221.89 points lower at 74,093, hitting an intraday low. Similarly, Nifty recorded an intraday low of 22,942, down 0.24 per cent or 55.19 points.

Earlier in the day Sensex opened 0.03 per cent or 25.47 points higher at 74,341.08 against its previous close of 74,315.61. While the 50-scrip basket began the trading session at 23,065.10, up 0.29 per cent or 67.75 points from its previous close of 22,997.35.

In morning trade, Nifty IT, Nifty Media, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Metal surged up to 1.59 per cent. In contrast, Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty MidSmall IT & Telecom and Nifty FMCG declined up to 0.86 per cent.

Meanwhile, realty and auto sectoral indices were also trading lower, while pharma, cement, healthcare and private bank saw marginal declines.

According to market experts, India has significantly outperformed other markets this week with 668-point gains in Nifty 50 in the last three days.

The outperformance is driven by a weakening AI trade, expectations of major changes in LTCG taxation in the coming Budget, and positive fallout from Q2 results that have been better than expected so far.

They further noted that good results from IT majors and positive management commentary have led to a smart 9 per cent revival in the IT index, contributing to the resilience of the Nifty.

“Q2 results of telecom, banking, automobiles and metals like copper, aluminium and zinc are expected to be impressive and provide fundamental support to the market,” they added.

“Another positive development is the sharp decline in the US 10-year bond yield to 5.07 per cent. This, along with strength in the rupee, can restrain FII selling to some extent,” according to the experts.

However, FIIs are likely to continue selling so long as the 10-year yield remains above 5 per cent and Brent trades above $100.

While maintaining a 23,200-23,600 view, analysts expect mean reversion moves while below 23,070, given the sharp rise in the previous session. Dips are expected to find buying interest as long as they do not stretch beyond 22,780.

On global cues, Asian equities traded higher in early hours, mirroring US markets. The S&P 500 closed 0.33 per cent higher after recovering from early losses, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended flat, up 0.08 per cent.