Road deaths cause 3% loss to GDP every year: Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: The increasing number of road deaths in the country is causing a loss of 3% to the GDP every year, Roads Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said.

Speaking at the Hyundai Motors roads safety event, Gadkari said that the economic loss was to the tune of Rs 55,000 crore annually as 1.5 lakh people are killed in road crashes every year.

India has the highest number of roads fatalities in the world, with one person being killed in a road mishap every four minutes.

“We are working on a plan to reduce the number of roads death. The plan includes stringent safety norms and identifying the accidental spots across the country,” Gadkari said.

Film actor Shahrukh Khan, who’s the brand ambassador of Hyundai Motors, said he would help the roads transport and highway ministry to take the message of roads safety across the country.

Gadkari’s ministry is also working on a proposal to impose punitive penalties on companies and engineers responsible for bad road designs. The provisions will be included in the upcoming roads safety bill.

Speaking at the event, roads secretary Vijay Chibber said that actors such as Shahrukh Khan should ensure that in movies all safety standards in the car and bike chase scenes as kids emulate such acts at home.