Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Jairam Gadkari(/nitinɡʌdkʌˈri/; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician fromMaharashtrawho is serving as the 40thMinister of Road Transport & Highwaysin theGovernment of Indiasince 2014.He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways, currently in his tenure for over ten years, and is the only person to serve under a single portfolio for three consecutive terms.Being one of senior leader ofBharatiya Janata Party(BJP), he served as the President of his party from 2009 to 2013.
He currently represents theNagpur constituencyin theLok Sabhaand is a lawyer by profession. He has previously served as a Minister in various departments, including Water resources and River development, Shipping, Rural Development and MSME. He is often referred to as the "Expressway Man of India" by the media due to his initiation of theMumbai-Pune Expresswayand his contributions to the development ofexpresswaysand other road infrastructure.TheWorld Economic Forumhas recognised him as the "pioneer ofpublic–private partnership(PPP) in the road sector".
Under his tenure asMinister of Road Transport & Highways, India's National Highway (NH) network has grown by 60% becoming world’s second largest network, rising from 91,287 km in 2014 to 146,195 km in 2024.  The length of National High-Speed Corridors (HSC) has increased by 2560%, rising from 93 km in 2014 to 2,474 km in 2024 and the length of 4-lane and above National Highways (excluding HSCs) has more than doubled, expanding from 18,278 km in 2014 to 45,947 km in 2024.
Gadkari was born into aMarathifamilyinNagpur, India to Jairam Gadkari and Bhanutai Gadkari on 27 May 1957.During his adolescence, he worked for theBharatiya Janata Yuva Morchaand the student unionAkhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. He completedM.Com.andLL.B.fromNagpur University.
Gadkari served as the Minister ofPublic Works Department(PWD) of theGovernment of Maharashtrafrom 1995 to 1999 and restructured it from top to bottom.He has served as the president of theMaharashtra stateunit of BJP.
Gadkari strongly supportedprivatisationwhile he campaigned for investments in infrastructure fromprivate firms. He addressed several meetings between private investors,contractors, builders and varioustrade organisationsand diverted large amounts of budgeted projects towards privatisation. Subsequently, the state government allocated₹7 billion for rural connectivity. Over the next four years, all-weather road connectivity inMaharashtrawas extended to 98% of the population. The project aimed to connect 13,736 remote villages which remained unconnected since independence by road.It also helped amelioratemalnutritionin remoteMelghat-Dharniarea ofAmravatidistrict, which previously had no access to medical aid,rationor educational facilities.
The Union Government appointed him as the Chairman ofNational Rural Road Development Committee. After a series of meetings and studies, Gadkari submitted his report to the central government and gave the presentation toAtal Bihari Vajpayee, thenPrime Minister of India. His new report was accepted andPradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, an ambitious rural road connecting scheme worth ₹600 billion, was launched.He received the Late Madhavrao Limaye Award by Public Library Nashik, for Most Efficient Member of Parliament for 2020-21.
As PWD Minister ofMaharashtra, Gadkari played a crucial role in expediting the construction of theMumbai-Pune Expressway.In 1990, theGovernment of Maharashtraconducted feasibility studies for the new expressway to be operated on a toll basis, however, it was only after Gadkari took over as PWD Ministerthat the construction of this project was fast-tracked. Gadkari entrusted the work of the construction ofMumbai-Puneexpressway toMSRDCin March 1997 on Build-Operate-Transfer basis with permission to collect toll for 30 years. The tender noticewas published in leading newspapers all over India and also on the Internet. Due to the wide publicity, 133 tenders were sold and on 18 December 1997, 55 tenders were received. After technical and financial evaluation, tenders were accepted and work orders were given on 1 January 1998 to four contractors. Thereafter tenders for widening of theKhandalaandLonavala-Khandalabypass works were invited. The tenders were received on 24 August 1998 and orders were issued on 4 September 1998. The first sections of the Expressway opened in 2000, and the entire route was completed, opened to traffic and made fully operational from April 2002.
The other major achievement of Gadkari as state ministerwas the construction of 55 flyovers in Mumbai, which eased the city traffic problems significantly.
Gadkari was appointed the president of theBJPin December 2009. This was considering a tough phase for theBJPas the party had lost two successiveLok Sabhaelections and needed a quick revamp.
In his bookIndia Aspires, co-authored withTuhin Sinha,Gadkari spells out his development ideas for the country in great detail. Increased institutional support to green energy, alternate fuel and effective waste management hold special importance in Gadkari's development plan.
AsBJPparty president, Gadkari, re-emphasised on legendary Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhya's principles ofIntegral HumanismandAntyodaya(upliftment of the poor). At the same time, various cellswere constituted within the party to regularly monitor the develop work undertaken by variousBJPstate governments and to come up with new policy inputs.
Gadkari resigned as party president in January 2013.
Gadkari contested 2014 Lok Sabha election successfully fromNagpurconstituency and won. He defeated Congress party candidateVilas Muttemwarby margin of 285,000. He retained his seat in 2019, defeatingNana Patoleof Congress party by 216,000 margin.
Gadkari became theMinister of Road Transport and HighwaysandMinister of Shippingin May 2014.Out of the stalled projects he inherited, projects worth₹1 trillion(US$12 billion) were terminated and others worth₹350 billion(US$4.0 billion) were put up for rebidding.He increased the pace of road creation in the country from 2 km/day to 16.5 km/day in his first year and to 21 km/day in the second year and end of 2018 30 km/day.He reserved an amount of one per cent of the total projects awarded in his tenure worth₹2 trillion(US$23 billion) for trees and beautification.
During theSecond Modi ministry, Gadkari retainedMinistry of Road Transport and Highways, while the Ministry of Shipping andMinistry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation were replaced withMinistry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterpriseson 31 May 2019.Highway construction pace post 2019 was 36 km per day in 2020 and Gadkari aims to take it to 68 kms per day with a target of 25000 kms in 2022-23.In line with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat green fuel adoption and fuel self sufficiency Gadkari drove to the parliament in a hydrogen powered FCEV Toyota Mirai car. He asked people to opt for green fuel vehicles.
Gadkari, who was virtually present at the inauguration of the headquarters of theNational Highways Authority of India(NHAI) on 28 October 2020, made a speech that was highly critical of theNHAIofficials and bureaucracy.
Gadkari has been praised for several initiatives by both BJP and Congress leaders as well as critics, most notably for increasing blend of ethanol in gasoline, encouraging mixing plastic in asphalt-bitumen roads, as well as launching theBharat NCAP.The Bharat NCAP has been launched on the lines of Global NCAP,which is based onLatin NCAP2016.Due to absence of safety features in cars made for India, which was noted following the crash testing of a few models in 2014, Gadkari mandated safety features such as ABS and 6 airbags(earlier 2 airbags) for cars sold across India.While he received praise for trying to make roads and cars safer, some automakers criticised this decision, stating that adding safety features will drive up prices of vehicles and make them unaffordable.
Gadkari, organises Khasdar Sanskrutik Mahotsav every year in Nagpur. The event focuses on India's diverse cultural heritage, encompassing traditional arts, music, dance, and literature. The Program Involves Various Bollywood celebrtities, singers and performers includingHema Malini,Mika Singh,Amit TrivediandAdnan Sami.
In March 2024, he was announced as the BJP candidate from his home constituency Nagpur in the2024 General Elections.He secured a decisive victory for the third consecutive time, defeating his closest Congress rival by a margin of 137,603 votes.
During his career in politics, Gadkari set up a number of private industries and companies.These include –
Gadkari has registered himself as anagriculturistfor tax purposes. He also started a fruit export company under the banner of "Ketaki Overseas Trading Company".He owns a total of 17 sugar plantations inVidarbhaunder the banner of the Purti group. Gadkari floated the Purti Power and Sugar Ltd (now Purti Group) in 1995,when he started as PWD minister inMaharashtra. In 2012, the companies came into the media glare based on irregularities unearthed by RTI activistAnjali Damania, the Income Tax department investigated a number of firms that had invested in Purti, and found more than a dozen of these to be bogus addresses.Another three investing firms were found co-located with the Somani Group, but no one knew of these firms.Following this, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal amplified the allegations accusing Gadkari of irregularities. However, Kejriwal apologised unconditionally after Gadkari filed a defamation case against him.
In 2010, when the Purti group had incurred losses of Rs. 640 million,the firmIRB, which had obtained hefty road contracts under Gadkari's term as PWD minister, loaned the group Rs. 1.64 billion, which was higher than Purthi's turnover of Rs. 1.45 billion. When questioned on Marathi channelIBN-Lokmat, about why he did not avail a loan from banks, Gadkari explained that the balance sheets of the company were not in a suitable state, so he had requested his friend Dattatray to help him out.Also, Gadkari's son Nikhil was allegedly a director with IRB at the time. Gadkari argued that there was nothing wrong in having contractors invest in one's firms.
The news of these allegations broke a few months before Gadkari was to seek re-election as president of the BJP. At the time, Gadkari was to address several rallies for the2012 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election.India Todayreported that BJP leaderShanta Kumarhad suggested that Gadkari's presence was "affectingBJP's anti-corruption campaign."Subsequently, Gadkari cancelled his scheduled rallies at Bilaspur and Solan on 30 October.
In early 2013, in the elections for BJP president, for which Gadkari was "close to clinching a second innings"his chances unravelled with several senior leaders suggesting that the I-T indictment of the Purti groups investments had damaged his image,and Gadkari was not re-elected.Gadkari told theTimes of Indiathat he was stepping down until the inquiry proved him innocent.Some RSS functionaries have suggested that his exit was the result of infighting.Subsequently, Gadkari threatened the I-T officers, saying "when our party comes to power, there would be noChidambaramorSoniato save them (I-T officials)"; Gadkari said,"Earlier CBI was doing Congress's bidding and now the I-T people are following suit."The I-T officers association took umbrage at these remarks and demanded an apology.
Eventually, in May 2013, theIncome Tax departmentassessed that Gadkari's firms had evaded Rs. 70 million via suchbenamiinvestments and other practices. On 30 April 2014, then Congress union MinisterManish Tewariapologised to Gadkari when he was dragged in to a defamation suit by the latter. This apology was based on the judicial commission mention that Gadkari had played no role or had no concern with the scam.On 13 May 2014, the Income Tax department ofMaharashtrastate cleared Gadkari's name and gave him a clean chit saying there is no investigation presently pending.GPS based toll collection will start on National Highways, said Nitin Gadkari.
Nitin Gadkari is married to Kanchan Gadkari and they have three children, Nikhil, Sarang and Ketki.His eldest son Nikhil is married to Rutuja Pathakand Sarang Gadkari is married to Madhura Rodi.Gadkari and his family follow avegetariandiet.
In August 2019 Gadkari created controversy when he stated that he had advised the thenUnion Finance Ministerto sack theRBIGovernor because the latter was inflexible and adamant.
In 2009, seven-year-old Yogita Thakre was found dead with bruises all over her body in a car allegedly owned by Gadkari and parked near his home. Maharashtra'sCriminal Investigation Department (CID)tried twice to close the case, but was rejected by local courts. Mr Gadkari's employees claimed that the girl accidentally locked herself in the boot of the car and died of suffocation. The girl's mother, however, claimed she was murdered. Yogita's post-mortem report said that she was smothered to death.
In 27 October 2023, a Marathi language biopic titledGadkariwas released inMaharashtra.