BT India @ 100: Gadkari targets ₹10 lakh cr in roads by March, eyes 100 km/day construction rate

India’s road transformation isn’t just about speed — it’s about scale. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, speaking at the BT India@100 Summit, revealed that the government plans to award ₹10 lakh crore worth of road projects by March 2025, while pushing daily construction to an unprecedented 100 km per day.

Gadkari traced the philosophy behind this push to a line he kept pinned to his desk when he first took office: “American roads are not good because America is rich. America is rich because American roads are good,” quoting former US President John F Kennedy. “That thought guided our mission,” he said.

As of now, ₹1 lakh crore worth of projects are active in the Delhi-NCR region alone. Over the next four months, an additional ₹2 lakh crore in contracts will be rolled out. “We’re building at 38 km per day today, but the target is 100 km per day next year. This isn’t just a slogan — it’s our working goal,” Gadkari said.

He explained that every ₹1 spent on road infrastructure yields ₹3.80 in economic returns, citing economists. The ministry has already awarded ₹2.5 lakh crore in projects this year and is set to quadruple that by fiscal-end.

A key impact of this ramp-up is the reduction in logistics costs. Studies by IIM Bangalore and IITs in Chennai and Kanpur, he said, show a 6% drop due to improved road networks. With India’s logistics cost once at 16% — well above China (8%) and the West (12%) — the aim is to bring it down to 9% by December and eventually under 7%. “If we hit that mark, exports could jump 1.5 to 2 times,” he said.

The minister also spotlighted green transport innovations. “We’ve signed a contract with Tata for flash-charging buses. The first 135-seater will launch in Nagpur as a pilot,” he said, with intercity electric routes being planned from Delhi to Jaipur, Dehradun, and from Chennai to Bengaluru.