Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said, Indian highways will be at par with those in the United States in two years.
“Logistics cost, too, will be reduced to 9 per cent of GDP by December 2025 from 14 per cent, giving a boost to the economy,” the minister said in Jharkhand's Ranchi.
Gadkari addressed a public meeting where he outlined the numbers: Rs 40,000 crore worth of projects completed, Rs 70,000 crore under implementation, and another Rs 75,000 crore in the pipeline. “I am committed to bolster Jharkhand's infrastructure. I assure the people of implementing Rs 2 lakh crore-worth national highway projects in the state,” he said.
He said projects like the Rs 36,000-crore Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata greenfield corridor (to be completed by March 2028), the Rs 12,800-crore Ranchi-Varanasi corridor (January 2028), the Rs 31,700-crore Delhi-Kolkata corridor (June 2026), the Rs 8,900-crore Ranchi-Patna corridor (December 2029), and the Rs 16,500-crore Raipur-Dhanbad corridor (January 2028) would reduce travel time and open up economic opportunities.
He announced a Rs 6,000-crore Ranchi Ring Road project as well. “We will ensure better connectivity between Jharkhand and other states, including Bihar,” he said.
He brought up delays due to land acquisition and forest clearances, and asked the state government to cooperate.
Gadkari didn’t hold back from scoring a political point. “Till elections, there should be politics but after polls, there should be ‘politics of development’,” he said, referring to the JMM-led government in the state.
In Garhwa, he inaugurated a 23-km four-lane highway from Shankha to Khajoori, built at Rs 1,130 crore, and laid the foundation of a Rs 1,330-crore four-laning project for NH-39 from the Chhattisgarh-Jharkhand border to Gumla.
While he promised Rs 2 lakh crore worth of national highway projects in Jharkhand, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which falls under his ministry, is facing public anger for a 40-hour traffic jam in Madhya Pradesh that killed three people this week. Kamal Panchal (62), Balram Patel (55), and Sandeep Patel (32) died due to heat and lack of medical help.
Over 4,000 vehicles were stranded on an 8-km stretch. NDTV reported that Panchal died of a heart attack after being stuck in his car for over an hour in the heat. The other two men died under similar circumstances.
NHAI's lawyer told the court, “people even leave home so early without any work.”