Nitin Gadkari, For 6th Time in 6 Years: Indian Roads Will Become Better Than American Roads In 2 Years
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways is known for promoting ethanol and EVs in his speeches and interviews. Another topic that he is often seen boasting about is road infrastructure. He speaks about this topic in almost every public appearance.
He is also known for making announcements that often leave people confused. One thing that the minister is obsessed with is improving the road networks in India and comparing them with countries like America. In the last 6 years, Nitin Gadkari has promised 6 times to make the roads in India better than the ones in America.
We will start with the latest one first. Recently, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, in an interview, told the media that the Modi government has increased investment in roads and highways during the past decade and that the projects are progressing well.
He mentioned that some people from America met him and said our infrastructure is better than America’s. He said that projects currently in the pipeline are progressing rapidly and that in the next two years, Indian road infrastructure will be similar to that of America.
2022
In 2022, during an event, Minister Nitin Gadkari gifted road projects worth Rs 8,000 crore to Uttar Pradesh. In this event, the minister said that the roads in the state would be made better than those in America before 2024.
2023
During his address at the Economic Times Global Business Summit in February 2023, Minister Nitin Gadkari said that Indian road infrastructure would be equal to that of US roads by the end of 2024.
2024
In between, Nitin Gadkari also made an announcement where he pushed back the timeline for America-like roads by over 20 years. In an announcement, he said that Indian roads would be better than roads in the United States by 2047. A year before this, the minister had said Indian roads would beat US roads in terms of quality in just 5 years.
2025
A couple of months ago, Nitin Gadkari made another announcement about roads in Madhya Pradesh. He said the national highway network in Madhya Pradesh would be better than that of the US in the next two years. He even said that he does not make empty promises and fulfils his commitments boldly.
He even recalled a quote from former US President John F. Kennedy: “American roads are not good because America is rich; America is rich because American roads are good.”
2025
As you would have already understood by now, the minister likes to boast about the road works in India. He recently also made a comment where he said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India’s road network has surpassed that of the United States. He was speaking at the inauguration of the Munshi Pulia and Khurram Nagar flyovers. Once again, he said that Uttar Pradesh’s national highway network would be better than that of the US.
While we agree that the ministry has started several highway and expressway projects in the country, only a few of them are completed. Even the completed sections of these roads are not perfect. We have been seeing a lot of reports showing quality issues on newly constructed roads.
The minister and the department had promised to take strict action against contractors and companies who are failing to provide quality work, but such incidents are in fact creating delays in the completion of many projects.
image via: Carsindia Reddit