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Nitin Gadkari
Ethanol-blended petrol has greatly benefitted farmers and resulted in saving of over Rs 1.40 lakh crore of foreign exchange, Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday. Amid concerns over the use of ethanol-blended petrol, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said after extensive testing, no adverse impact has been found in cars where ethanol mixed petrol is used. "Use of E-20 petrol (Ethanol Blended Petrol) is a healthy trend. It is a green transition. It is less polluted and also saves foreign exchange," he said in Lok Sabha during Question Hour. Gadkari said due to the mixing of ethanol in petrol, Rs 40,000 crore has been given to the farmers for the raw materials used -- sugarcane, maize etc. -- in ethanol. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said following the implementation of the ethanol blending programme, money which was earlier spent on crude oil imports is now going to farmers, who have become "Urjadaatas" apart from being "Annadatas". He said during th
The number of road accident fatalities in India rose 2.3 per cent to over 1.77 lakh in 2024, resulting in the death of 485 persons every day, Parliament was informed. Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, in a written reply to Lok Sabha, said that the Stockholm Declaration on Road Safety, adopted at the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in February 2020, sets a new global target to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50 per cent by 2030. "As per the information received from States/UTs, total number of road accident fatalities reported in the country on all categories of roads during the calendar year 2024 were 1,77,177, which includes data in respect of West Bengal taken from eDAR portal," Gadkari said. A total number of 4,80,583 road accidents have been reported by Police Departments of States and Union Territories (UTs) in the country during the calendar year 2023, claiming 1,72,890 lives and causing injuries to 4,62,825 persons. The
Amid air pollution in Delhi, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the central government is giving priority to alternative fuels, and he has started using Toyota's 'Mirai' hydrogen fuel-cell car. "The futuristic fuel is hydrogen.. I have also got a car, which is hydrogen, and the car is from Toyota ... It gives the same comfort as Mercedes. The name of the car is Mirai, which is a Japanese word meaning future," Gadkari said during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. The Union minister said the import of fossil fuel is costing India Rs 22 lakh crore, and it is also creating a lot of pollution. "Because of pollution, you are all facing the crucial problem; I am also facing the problem in Delhi," he said, as he expressed confidence that as India moves to alternative fuel, the country will become a net exporter of energy. During 202425, India imported around 300 million metric tons of crude and petroleum products and exported about 65 million metric tons. Th
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the current system of toll collection will come to an end within a year and an electronic system will take its place, ensuring a seamless experience for highway users. The new system has been rolled out in 10 places and will be extended across the country within a year, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways said in Lok Sabha during Question Hour. "This toll system will end. There will be no one to stop you in the name of toll. Within a year, an electronic toll collection will be implemented across the country," he said. Gadkari also said that currently 4,500 highway projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore are ongoing across the country. According to an official statement recently released, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has developed the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program, a unified, interoperable platform for electronic toll payments, to streamline toll collection across India's highways. At the
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday emphasised the need for "farmer producer companies" for the progress of cultivators. Addressing a workshop on farmer producer organisation, he said all problems of cultivators must be solved at commissionerate level in districts through the farmer producer company. "We need to form a organisation/ apex body of farmer producer company for the progress and development of farmers. With farmer producer company, they can utilise agriculture equipment, tractor, harvester and other things and it will make it easy to pay loans," he said. There is need to reduce cost of production and increase yields, he said. "This would make farmers prosperous," Gadkari said while underlining the need to use technology and AI to improve production. The workshop was organised by Agro Vision, of which Gadkari is chief mentor. The Union minister informed about various initiatives taken by Agro Vision to improve agriculture pattern and crop diversification.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said India is transitioning from a fuel-importing to a fuel-exporting nation, driven by the growing production and use of ethanol, methanol and green hydrogen. Gadkari, addressing the 84th annual session of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC), emphasised the government's commitment to road safety, focusing on advanced engineering standards, intelligent transport systems, and awareness initiatives. India is transitioning from a fuel-importing to a fuel-exporting nation, driven by the growing production and use of ethanol, methanol, bio-LNG, CNG, and green hydrogen, he said. India is the fastest-growing economy in the world. The dream of our Prime Minister is to make India the third-largest economy. Our mission is to make the country a Vishwaguru'. For that, we need world-class infrastructure in the water, power, transport, and communication segments, the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister said. Gadkari said the government's aim is to build
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday set the target of creating five lakh jobs in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in the next five years before a local industry body. He said although the target was challenging, it was achievable. Gadkari was addressing a gathering at the launch of 'Nagpur Skill Centre', a skill development initiative of the Association for Industrial Development (AID) in collaboration with Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Tata STRIVE - a skill development Initiative of Tata Trusts, and Vidarbha Global Foundation. "We have set the target of creating five lakh jobs in the next five years. Five thousand youths from every assembly constituency in Vidarbha will get skill training at the Nagpur Skill Centre," said Gadkari, who is the mentor of AID. "Although the target of skill training and creating five lakh jobs in five years is huge, it is achievable," the Minister for Road Transport and Highways said. He gave the examples of various projects that provided jobs
Logistics cost in India will come down to single digit by December this year, helped by rapid expansion of expressways and economic corridors, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday. Addressing ASSOCHAM Annual Conference 2025, Gadkari further said a recent report prepared by IIT Chennai, IIT Kanpur and IIM Bangalore has revealed that India's construction of expressways and economic corridors has helped reduce the country's logistics cost to 10 per cent from 16 per cent earlier. "India's logistics cost will come down to 9 per cent by December, which will help India become more competitive. I am sure that 100 per cent it is going to give benefit to our industry, our exports will be more competitive," he said. Logistics cost is 12 per cent in the US, 12 per cent in European countries and 8 to 10 per cent in China. Talking about India's automobile sector, the minister said, "Within five years, our target is to make India's automobile industry the number 1 in the world." "When I t
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is scheduled to visit Puducherry on Monday for the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of several infrastructure projects, starting with a Rs 436 crore, four-km elevated corridor linking the Indira Gandhi Square and the Rajiv Gandhi Square here. During the visit, Gadkari, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, will also dedicate to the nation three national highway projects worth over Rs 2,000 crore, besides improvement works on a 14-km stretch of the East Coast Road involving an investment of Rs 25 crore, officials said. Besides, the minister will inaugurate the 38-km four-lane Puducherry-Poondiankuppam section of National Highway 32, developed at a cost of Rs 1,588 crore, they said. Puducherry Lt Governor K Kailashnathan, Chief Minister N Rangasamy, Union Minister L Murugan, Tamil Nadu PWD Minister E V Velu, Puducherry ministers and Speaker R Selvam would participate in the event.
The government is constructing 25 greenfield expressways, totalling 10,000 km across the country, at a cost of Rs 6 lakh crore, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday. Addressing the 120th Annual Session of PHDCCI, Gadkari further said 75-80 per cent of the work on the strategic Zojila Tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity between the Ladakh region and the rest of the country, has been completed. He said the highways ministry will get Rs 15 lakh crore if it monetises its road projects. The road transport and highways minister also said that the construction of expressways and economic corridors has helped reduce the country's logistics costs by 10 per cent from 16 per cent earlier. "India's logistics cost will come down to 9 per cent by December, which will help India become more competitive," he said. Logistics costs are 12 per cent in the US, 12 per cent in European countries and 8 to 10 per cent in China. Talking about India's automobile sector, the minist
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday inaugurated the country's first commercial electric truck battery swapping-cum-charging station built by Energy in Motion at Delhi International Cargo Terminal Private Limited (DICT) in village Panchi Gujran here. Calling this initiative by Energy in Motion historic, Gadkari said India spends nearly Rs 25 lakh crore annually on fuel imports. If we save this money by using alternative energy, it will be invested in India's development and help us move faster towards the dream of a developed India. An official release quoting Gadkari said special focus is being laid on reducing the country's logistics cost. The government's target is to bring it down to single digits (below 9 per cent) by December 2026. To achieve this, the highway network is being strengthened and multi-modal infrastructure is being developed by integrating waterways, rail and road transport, he stated. Lower logistics costs will not only benef
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday stressed on the need to increase the share of agriculture and allied sector in the GDP to at least 26 per cent from the present 18 per cent to make India self-reliant. Addressing an annual general meeting of Crop Care Federation of India, Gadkari, the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, emphasised on reducing the cost of production to make agriculture sector economically viable. To cut input costs, he called upon the farm equipment manufacturers to make electric as well as flex-engine tractors. Gadkari also asked the agro-chemicals industry to focus on introducing affordable bio-pesticides and bio-insecticides products by undertaking intensive research & development (R&D) works. He also told the industry to produce basic raw material in India itself and reduce import dependency to ensure the quality of the finished agro-chemicals. Talking about the agriculture sector, Gadkari said the farm sector is the backbone of our ...
Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said that toll collection through RFID has resulted in gains of Rs 8,000 crore. Addressing the silver jubilee celebration of i-TEK RFID, a leading RFID and Wireless IoT solutions provider in Pune, he said this wireless technology has revolutionised the collection of road tax. Toll is collected electronically through FASTag, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, on the national highways and some state highways. "The use of RFID in transport has become beneficial. There was a time when long queues used to be seen at toll plazas, but the RFID revolutionised the entire toll collection. The toll collection through RFID has resulted in gains of Rs 8,000 crore. Though there are some areas where toll theft still persists, with the expansion of this system, we are expecting additional gains of about Rs 10,000 crore," said Gadkari. Gadkari stated that toll collection has gone up significantly and is expected to increase further.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said the sugar industry has survived due to the advent of ethanol, and asserted there is a need for new technologies in farming. Speaking at an event of Naam Foundation in Pune, Gadkari attributed cultivator suicides in Maharashtra's Vidarbha and Marathawada regions to the scarcity of water for farming. The senior BJP leader hailed the work of Naam Foundation, led by actors Nana Patekar and Makarand Anaspure, in the field of water conservation and the welfare of the children of farmers who had committed suicide. "Water was the main cause behind the suicides of farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. If water was available in abundance, the farmers would not have to take the extreme step," said Gadkari. He said there is a need to bring in technology in the farming sector and experiments regarding the same have already been undertaken. "We import fossil fuel worth Rs lakh 22 crore due to ethanol. Today, the sugarcane cultivators and sugar m