Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Monday that the infrastructure of the Indian road would be comparable in one and two years of the US, arguing that his government has spent on roads and highways in the last decade.
“The question is that it is not about facelift, it has already changed. You have just seen the news reel, the main picture has not started yet. The projects in the pipeline are moving fast. In one and two years, you will be able to see that the infrastructure of the Indian road will be similar to America.”
“Some people in America met me and said that our infrastructure is better than America,” they complemented.
The minister said that good roads set by his government have reduced the logistics cost in India, saying that this would improve export competition.
“If we increase our exports, it will improve our agricultural sector, manufacturing and services, in all other fields,” he said.
The minister said that the main concern in India was 8 percent of China and high logistics cost -16 percent against the US and European countries.
“Our roads were not good, our ports were not good. The traffic rush increased the cost,” he said.
Along with better roads, Gadkari said that the BJP -led government reduced the cost of logistics by 9 percent.
“This low cost will make us export competitive,” he repeated.
Talking about working in offing, the minister said that 25 Greenfield Expressway, 3,000 km port connectivity highway, and religious tourism circuit connecting the religious tourism circuit are running on roads worth Rs 1 lakh crore.
He talked about connecting Buddhist circuits and four dhams with good all-visits roads.
“We are developing 36 tunnels between Jammu and Srinagar; 23 is completed, and working for another 4-5,” Gadkari said. “We are developing 15 ropeways under the Parvatmala scheme, in addition to 35 multi-modal logistics parks.”
Public infrastructure is the backbone of economic growth, enhances connectivity, overall quality of trade and life. India, the fifth largest economy in the world, has made significant progress in the development of infrastructure in the last decade.
The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP), launched in 2021, is designed to bring together various ministries including Railways and Roadways to ensure integrated plan and coordinated execution of infrastructure projects.
India has the second largest road network in the world, and its national highways have a total length of about 146,000 km, which creates the country’s primary artery network.
According to a ministry statement in early February 2025, India’s National Highway (NH) network rose from 65,569 km in 2004 to 91,287 km in 2014 and 1,46,145 km in 2024.
The national highway is spread over four or more lanes, with 18,371 km from 2.6 times in 2014 to 48,422 km in 2024.
The operational high-speed corridor increased from 93 km in 2014 to 2,138 km in 2024.
The speed of national highway construction increased from 12.1 km/day to 2.8 times in 2014-15 to 33.8 km/day in 2023-24. (AI)
