Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that with the construction of 26 green express highways, India's road infrastructure will match that of the United States by 2024. Citing instances of how the expressways will cut down on travel time, he said, “Delhi to Chandigarh will take two-and-a-half hours, Delhi to Amritsar four hours, and you will be able to do Delhi to Mumbai in 12 hours. By 2024, I guarantee that roads in India will be like those in the United States.” He added: “You see the development that has happened in your respective constituencies. I am saying this on record in the House, what I said will happen.” Gadkari, who has held the ministry since 2014, has made similar statements in the past – on his big plans for Indian highways, creating “world records” in road construction and getting Indian highways to look like America's freeways. On July 12, speaking to members of the Hydraulic Trailer Owners Association (HTOA), he said, “Our plan is to make an electric highway between Delhi and Mumbai. Just like a trolleybus, you can also run trolley trucks.” In Bihar to inaugurate road projects on June 7, he said “the road network in Bihar will be on a par with those in America”. On March 22, Gadkari, in a reply to a question about grants related to the ministry in the Lok Sabha, said India’s road infrastructure will be like that of the United States by 2024. Quoting US President John F Kennedy, who had famously said “It is not our wealth that built our roads, but it is our roads that built our wealth”, Gadkari remarked: “To make India prosperous, I will ensure that before December 2024, India’s road infrastructure will be like that of America.” He added: “It is our endeavour to reduce the cost of construction and improve quality of construction by incorporating world-class technology. With great pride, I would like to tell this august House that we have created four world records in road construction.” In Madhya Pradesh this February, while laying the foundation stones for 11 road projects at an estimated cost of Rs 5,722 crore, Gadkari said, “The roads of MP would be like those in the US in the next five years”. Addressing a virtual event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries on August 11, 2021, Gadkari said: “Infrastructure (development) is very important for the country.Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, we created a world record of constructing 38 km of road in a day… But I am not satisfied with the present performance." Gadkari added that his target was to achieve a pace of up to 100 km per day of highway construction. Earlier, on July 29, 2017, speaking at an international bus and car travel show, Gadkari said, "In Mumbai, the cement concrete roads built 20 years ago are still in good shape. But some political leaders, bureaucrats and contractors do not want such roads to be constructed in Mumbai. All the roads in the country would be converted into cement concrete ones. And I guarantee that they will last for 200 years," he added. (With inputs from agencies)
