Indian Roads Will Be Like Those in the US by 2024, Says Nitin Gadkari

As many as 26 green express highways connecting key cities will be constructed before 2024, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, told Rajya Sabha. Gadkari also pledged that the road infrastructure in India will be similar to that of the United States.

Gadkari, during the Question Hour, was replying to the query about fund availability of NHAI (National Highways Authority of India), put up by Congress MP Rajeev Shukla. Dusting off allegations of fund shortage, Gadkari mentioned that NHAI can build 5 lakh kilometre roads in a year, as reported by PTI. He said, “There is no shortage of funds. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership before 2024, India’s road infrastructure will be the same as that in the United States, I promise.”

Gadkari claimed that after the green express highways are built, the travel time from Delhi to Chandigarh will be reduced to two-and-a-half hours, Delhi to Amritsar will be covered in four hours, and Delhi to Mumbai in twelve hours. “We are committed to changing the face of road infrastructure in the country,” he added.

Before this, Gadkari, speaking to the Lok Sabha in March this year, quoted John F. Kennedy, who said, “American roads are not good because America is rich but America is rich because American roads are good,” and assured that Indian road infrastructure will be as good as America.

Earlier this week, Gadkari had called himself the “father of toll tax” in India as he built the first such road in Maharashtra when he was the state minister in the late 90s. The Union minister also mentioned two new toll-collection technologies that the government is mulling over. The first is based on the GPS technology, while the other is based around the vehicle’s number plate.

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