On track 25 greenfield e-ways covering 10,000 km under construction: Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi: The government is constructing 25 greenfield expressways, totalling 10,000 km across the country, at a cost of ₹ 6 lakh crore, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

Addressing the 120th annual session of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said the highways ministry will get ₹15 lakh crore if it monetises its road projects.

Gadkari said the construction of expressways and economic corridors has helped reduce the country's logistics costs to 10% from 16% earlier.


"India's logistics cost will come down to 9% by December, which will help India become more competitive," he said.

Logistics costs are 12% in the US, 12% in European countries and 8-10% 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 took charge as transport minister, the size of the Indian automobile industry was ₹14 lakh crore which has grown to₹22 lakh crore now," he said. Gadkari said the automobile sector provides jobs to 400,000 youths and provides the highest goods and services tax to the Centre and states.

The US automobile industry is the largest in the world, at ₹78 lakh crore, followed by China (₹47 lakh crore) and India (₹22 lakh crore).

The minister said India's dependence on fossil fuels is an economic burden, as ₹22 lakh crore is spent annually on fuel imports, and is an environmental hazard, making the adoption of clean energy crucial for the country's progress.