Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari: Indian roads will

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is again in the news and this time, he has said that India’s roads will be better than those in the US by 2047. Now, a full 23 years have passed. This is not the first time Mr Gadkari has made such remarks.

He said it last year In just 5 years, Indian roads surpassed American roads in quality. This year, that goal appears to have been pushed back by nearly 20 years. Mr Gadkari’s latest statement on Indian roads being better than US roads came on October 19 in Bhopal, where the minister inaugurated a two-day conference on Indian roads.

Minister Gadkari said,

In the future, India’s road infrastructure will be better than that of the United States. We will do it.

During the meeting, the minister came down heavily on consultants involved in creating detailed project report (DPR) documents, accusing them of using Google to work from home instead of working in the field.

While agreeing with me, officials said (misalignment of highway) happened because of those who prepared the DPR (detailed project report)…Those who prepared the DPR were great people… …they deserve a “Padma” award…they prepared DPR to sit at home and google.

The minister also said that whitening (concrete) of roads is a way to prevent potholes on Indian roads. He added that the white pavement of Indian roads will ensure their service life of at least 25 years.

Potholes bring great joy to some people, who get the chance to rebuild their roads every year. If this “joy” must come to an end, we should introduce a white concrete surface. Nothing will happen to the road (no damage) for 25 years. I have converted the roads in my city (Nagpur) into concrete roads.

Finally, the minister said good road infrastructure along with other transportation initiatives will reduce the cost of transporting goods from one place to another. Currently, logistics costs in India (14% of GDP) are quite high compared to the United States and even China (8% of GDP). The additional cost of logistics makes India’s exports uncompetitive, and reducing this cost to about 9% of GDP will make India’s exports competitive.

While Mr Gadkari has been credited with many of India’s big infrastructure projects in the transport sector, the minister has faced criticism over the past few months over crumbling road infrastructure, even on newly constructed highways in this way.

When news emerged of the poor quality of the brand new motorway, the minister vowed to take strict action. He subsequently sanctioned the contractor and suspended National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials for dereliction of duty.

However, the Internet has not been very kind to Mr. Gadkari. Since he has been a staunch supporter of toll highways, he has come under attack on social media networks, with many questioning excessive tolls for using new highways and freeways. A similar meme fest is taking place on Twitter (now X) and Instagram, highlighting the exorbitant tolls that most motorway and motorway users must now pay.

by TOI

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