Rs 3 lakh crore for Northeast border roads: Nitin Gadkari at Express Adda

Gadkari said strategic connectivity projects are coming up in all border areas, linking to the national highway network. “In Kashmir, I am constructing tunnels worth Rs 60,000 crore. Can you imagine? I am constructing four tunnels from Manali to Rohtang. From Ladakh to Srinagar… I am connecting that to Katra and then to Amritsar and to Delhi,” Gadkari said.

The Union Minister was in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, Indian Express Group, and Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express.

Gadkari also said that he will ask states to increase the speed limit of national highways to 140 kmph on eight-lane expressways and 120 kmph on six-lane highways, adding that he has asked his Ministry to formulate rules for trucks and buses to ply in lanes.

Speaking on road safety, Gadkari said he was passionate about reducing accidents. “About 60 per cent of those who die in accidents are between 18 and 24 years of age. So many people don’t die in wars and in Covid. For the same reason, we cannot allow two-wheelers in expressways,” he said. On the proposed vehicle scrappage policy, Gadkari said he was not in favour of scrapping vintage vehicles.

Gadkari said the countrywide highway network, as imagined during the NDA government of A B Vajpayee, is coming to life. “I am making 27 greenfield expressways, like Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi Dehradun… these are new roads. All of this will add to the development of backward areas,” he said.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari at Express Adda. (Express photo)

In a freewheeling conversation on infrastructure, economy and politics, Gadkari said he wanted to build the highway infrastructure with funds invested by the poor of the country, who would benefit from the returns, and not money from abroad.

“Hindustan ke gareeb log hai, retired log hai… I give them a return of 8 per cent in the invIT fund. If I take foreign funds in dollars, the fluctuation in rates of dollar against rupee is a big problem. Besides, I would have to take a (sovereign) guarantee from the Finance Ministry. I don’t want to get into such complicated hassles,” he said.

“When people with proposals for funds come to me, I ask, would you need the guarantee of the Finance Ministry? If they say yes, then I say thank you very much, please have your tea and leave,” he said.

Gadkari, who helms the Government’s ambitious plans of delivering large-scale road infrastructure, said that roads in the country will be as good as those in America by the end of 2024.

Union Minister for Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari in conversation with Indian Express Executive Director Anant Goenka and Indian Express Opinions Editor Vandita Mishra in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

“The way we are working… it is my attempt that before 2024 end, from Bihar to Northeast and elsewhere, the road infrastructure will be as good as America,” he said. “Only 20 per cent of what we are working on is visible now, while the rest 80 per cent is in the process.”

Speaking of employment generation through infrastructure projects, Gadkari called for public-private partnership. “I am making roads worth Rs 5 lakh crore whereas my budget is Rs 2 lakh crore. Take what comes from PPP, and give it (the infrastructure) to the poor for free,” he said.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari (right)  speaks to Anant Goenka, Executive Director, Indian Express Group (middle). (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

Asked if there was concentration of power in politics and business in India, the former BJP president said political parties are like a bicycle and their leadership the “valve”. “Every party is a combination of three things: ideology, organisation and leadership. It is like a cycle. A cycle has a tyre, tube and valve. Leadership is like the valve. If the valve is not right, then the tyre loses air and the cycle stops,” he said.

Responding to a question on whether the trend of a “virtually one-party assembly”, as seen in Delhi and recently in Gujarat, would last, Gadkari said, “Anything can happen in cricket and politics”.

Nitin Gadkari, who helms the Government’s ambitious plans of delivering large-scale road infrastructure, said that roads in the country will be as good as those in America by the end of 2024. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

Elaborating, Gadkari narrated the story of a cricket match. “Once, I was in a stadium with the late Pramod Mahajan watching India’s match. By tea break, India’s wickets were falling and it was losing the match. Pramodji left the match thinking now India would lose. I stayed back. You wouldn’t believe, after he left, the match turned and India ended up winning it. So why one wins or loses no one can say,” he said. “So this is the janata’s right. Whatever the janata mandates, we have to accept.”

Replying to another question about his views on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gadkari said he doesn’t view it “at all”.

The Express Adda is a series of informal interactions organised by The Indian Express Group and features those at the centre of change. Previous guests at the Adda include Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, Union Minister of Health Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, election strategist Prashant Kishor and Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav.