‘Our roads will rival those of the US by the end of 2024,’ says Nitin Gadkari

It’s less than a year to the Lok Sabha polls. What’s your assessment of the work your ministry has done? Once upon a time, I used to keep talking of road construction and road quality in the US and always reminded people of President John F Kennedy’s statement that American roads were not good because America was rich but America was rich be­cause American roads were good. Today, I am confident that by the end of 2024, our road infrastructure will be the equivalent of that in the US. That was my target. I am 100 per cent confident that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi our roads will be of international standards and our road network will be of American standards. Besides, with the help of our contractors, officers and stakeholders we have set world records seven times—37 km a day of highway construction rate in 2020-21, 100 lane km in 100 hours on Ghaziabad-Aligarh Expressway, 75 km single-lane bituminous concrete road on the Amravati-Akola section of the national highway in 4.5 days, 26 km single-lane bitumen road in 18 hours on the Solapur-Bijapur section, 2.5 km four-lane cement con­crete road in 24 hours on the Delhi- Mumbai Expressway, laying the biggest ever quantity of 43,000 tonnes of dense bitumen over 50 km single-lane road in 100 hours on the Delhi- Vadodara section of the expressway, and Asia’s longest multilayer viaduct, built on a single column with three Metro stations in Nagpur. These are great achievements for the ministry. This will encourage confidence in the minds of stakeholders. We are using the best technology in the world. The basic vision is about reducing the cost of construction and, at the same time, raising its quality. That’s the most important mission for all of us.

An achievement that stands out?

When I became minister in 2014, one crore people used to work as hu­mans carrying humans, either on a cycle-rickshaw or pulling rickshaws resting on shoulders. I brought the mechanised e-rickshaw bill and through our efforts, now, of the one crore, 99 lakh drive e-rickshaws. Now you don’t see the man-pulled rickshaw. Deendayal Upadhyaya had said he would never sit on a rickshaw pulled by people. Ram Manohar Lohia had said that the day this tradition came to an end, it would be a golden day for the country. I am happy that I have freed nearly a crore people from it. This is my life’s biggest achievement. The vision of Mahatma Gandhi and Deendayal Upadhyaya was that the last man in the queue, who has no food, shelter or clothes, should be considered God and served, and that only the day that person got food, shelter and clothes would be the time our work would be complete. Such people can now live with dignity. The man who earned ₹200-300 a day is today earning ₹1,000-1,500, and physically challenged people and women are also driving these rickshaws. It has become a means of livelihood and there is another 25 per cent increase over the one crore. I feel that the popularity of e-rickshaws and electric cars in small towns is my life’s best work.

Do you have any regret? Something you could have done better?

I have one regret. In India, five lakh accidents occur and 1.5 people lose their lives and three lakh get injured annually. Several victims are youth in the 18-35 age group. It hurts 3 per cent of the country’s GDP. There are various reasons—road engineering, automobile engineering, etc. But human behaviour is the biggest prob­lem. There is no respect for or fear of the law. Education about road safety and rules and helping people in an emergency is needed. I tried for seven years but I am sad that I could not suc­ceed in this. I myself had an accident. I am trying hard, but have not got the desired results. The figures may have come down by 2-4 per cent, but I am trying to see to it that before 2024 we reduce accidents by 50 per cent and deaths too by 50 per cent. Let’s see. So far, the records we have got have not shown a satisfactory resolution.

The speed of road construction has increased 59 per cent since 2014. What were the biggest hurdles?

When I became minister there were 406 stalled projects worth ₹3.85 lakh crore. The contractors, secretaries, officers, bankers, and I myself used to sit together from 10AM till midnight discussing how to go about things. We decided to terminate projects worth ₹40,000 crore which were seen to be worthless. For the rest, we found a way out. We spoke to bank­ers, helped contractors, and you can say we saved Indian banks from ₹3 lakh crore of non-performing assets (NPAs). Now, when things are going fine, those who withdrew from the projects have returned. The projects have gained speed.

“The man who earned ₹200-300 a day is today earning ₹1,000-1,500. Physically challenged people and women are also driving e-rickshaws. It has become a means of livelihood. The popularity of e-rickshaws and electric cars in small towns is my life’s best work”

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What was the biggest challenge?

Challenges were land acquisition, environment-forest clearance, and railway clearances. Without the cooperation of state governments, we cannot do these things. We have now decided that without acquiring 90 per cent of land, we will not give an appointment date.

There has recently been a lot of focus on completing 100 lane km of the bituminous concrete Ghaziabad-Aligarh Expressway in 100 days.

With the world record there are three things—we are putting 7 per cent plastic in the bitumen, 15 per cent used tyre rubber powder is being used, and bamboo crash barrier has been used for the first time. We have transplanted 25,000 trees and 3.5 crore trees of three-metre height were planted and e-tagged. We are working for ecology and the environment. As transport minister, to reduce pollu­tion, I have worked a lot on ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, bio-CNG, electric and hydrogen.

What kind of employment opportunities has the sector thrown up? Do you have projected job gains by, say, 2030?

The road sector is such that in the form of Goods and Services Tax (GST), at least 25-30 per cent comes back to government. In a state or at the Centre, if land is acquired, there is reg­istry, if cement or steel is bought there is GST, there is GST on machines and material. Employment is created. In a project worth ₹1,000 crore, 30,000-40,000 people get employed, directly or indirectly. So, this sector contrib­utes heavily to jobs. I believe the more work you do, the more employment it generates. We are making 32 screen highway and economic corridors. Our logistics cost is 14-16 per cent. In China, it is 8-10 per cent. In America and Europe, it is 12 per cent. We want to take it to single digit before the end of 2024. The new corridors and fuels like hydrogen, ethanol, CNG and LNG will help reduce logistics cost. We are making a logistics park of ₹2 lakh crore. Exports will grow.

You were trying to get Elon Musk’s Tesla to manufacture in India. At what stage is that?

If they come, we will welcome them. We will definitely extend all help. Their factory is in China where they have their largest production capac­ity. We cannot give them conces­sions to bring cars from there and sell in India. If they come and start manufacturing here, then we will extend all support. The other thing is that, in the automobile industry, we were fourth in the world. China was first, then came the US, and Japan was third. We are now third, having beaten Japan. The industry’s volume is ₹7.5 lakh crore. This industry has given jobs to 4.5 lakh crore. It brings in the most revenue in the form of GST for the Central and state govern­ments. We are trying to take it to a ₹15 lakh crore industry by 2024. All re­puted brands will manufacture in In­dia and, in the coming years, exports of buses, trucks, cars and scooters will be from India. Even today, 50 per cent of Bajaj, TVS and Hero two-wheelers are exported. Big car companies also export their cars.

What does the future of electric cars look like in India? How do you plan to encourage their use?

There is no need to encourage. Now there’s a waiting list. I encouraged so much that now for a year you don’t get electric cars. The production capacity of buses is 60,000-70,000, but we need two lakh buses. In electric scooters, 400 startups have taken off. If a petrol car costs ₹25,000 a month, an electric car will cost ₹2,000 a month. People will move towards it. I use an electric car. It’s very comfortable. I don’t use petrol or diesel vehicles. I have a hy­drogen car, an electric and a flex-fuel engine car which runs 100 per cent on ethanol. It’s cheaper than petrol and will reduce pollution. I have been propagating all this since 2004 and it’s my dream that our farmer, who is “anna datha (provider of food)” will become “urja datha (provider of fuel)”. He is already with ethanol. Now, he will become “bitumen datha (provider of bitumen)”. Farmers will prepare 30 lakh tonnes of bitumen.

“If Tesla comes, we will welcome them. Their factory is in China where they have their largest production capacity. But we cannot give them concessions to bring cars from China and sell in India. If they come and start manufacturing here, then we will extend them all support“

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How do you ensure cash flows for your projects?

I don’t have any problem with cash flows for my projects. Under the InvIT (Infrastructure Investment Trust) model at the Bombay stock exchange, we had 10 days time. On the first day, within seven hours, our bond issue was seven times oversubscribed. So there’s no problem. We have public support and we are getting money. Our toll income is ₹40,000-45,000 crore annually and by 2024 it will be more than ₹1 lakh crore.

The opposition skipped the inauguration of the new Parliament building saying the president should have inaugurated it, not the prime minister. How do you see the opposition’s combative stance?

Parliament is the temple of our democ­racy and the prime minister, with his vision and leadership, has inaugurated it. It is a matter of pride for the country. In this, leaving behind all politics, we hoped the opposition would partici­pate. This was a celebration of democ­racy. Unfortunately, they did not attend and we are all saddened by it.

What about the attempts by some opposition leaders, such as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, to get together to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party?

That’s for them to address. We are working with positivity, aimed at development and making an Atmanirbhar Bharat through the well-being of the poor. Good gover­nance and development are our mission and rashtravaad is our atma. We will work for economic development by making the poor the focus of our work. We will seek people’s support for our positive work, and in 2024, under Modiji’s leadership, I am confident, we will emerge victorious.

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Amita Shah