The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways was addressing the inaugural session of a two-day seminar in Bhopal on ‘Latest emerging trends and technologies in road and bridge construction’.

Gadkari recalled that when he was a minister in Maharashtra, he had a quote by former US President John F Kennedy in his office: “American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good.”

The senior BJP leader said his friend Ratan Tata, who died earlier this month, had asked him several times about the quote during his visits to the minister’s office.

“In the coming time, Indian road infrastructure will be even better than that of America. We will do it,” Gadkari said. He told the participants of the seminar that they could bring about this change.

Sharing his experience of a helicopter survey of the Bangalore-Chennai highway, Gadkari said he noticed three to four “big towers” coming in the way of the highway’s alignment and was told that it would cost Rs 300-400 crore to remove them.

Gadkari said he told an official that the towers could have been avoided during the highway’s construction, thus saving the cost of their removal.

“While agreeing with me, the official said it happened because of those who prepared the DPR (detailed project report)… Those who prepare DPR are great people… They deserve the ‘Padma’ award… They prepare the DPR on Google by sitting at home,” Gadkari quipped. Such people apologise when mistakes like a wrong alignment are pointed out, he said. Engineers don’t visit the site before the project to see if mosques and temples are coming in the way and approach the authorities when difficulties arise due to such structures, he said.

There should be a sense of ownership, Gadkari said, urging state governments to engage students from engineering colleges to rectify the mistakes in DPRs. “Then, several mistakes can be rectified,” he said.

According to the Union minister, India has the second largest road network with 63 lakh kilometres of thoroughfares.

Gadkari sarcastically said that potholes emerge on asphalt roads, necessitating their reconstruction every year. “This gives immense joy to some people,” he said.

“If this ‘joy’ must end, we should introduce white concrete topping. There will be nothing (no damage) to the road for 25 years. I have converted roads in my city (Nagpur) into concrete roads,” he said.

Asphalt roads also suffer if the drainage system is not good as water is dangerous for bitumen, he said.

Gadkari also talked about the importance of better transport networks.

“Our logistics cost is 14 per cent (of the GDP), which is eight per cent in China. I went to a programme of the American Chambers of Commerce and met big CEOs. They said it is 12 per cent in their countries,” he said.

To lower logistics costs, the country needs to increase the efficiency of highways, waterways and railways, Gadkari said.

According to the Lok Sabha MP from Nagpur, if logistics costs can be brought down to nine per cent, it can lead to an increase in exports and boost the economy.

Emphasising the need to encourage biofuel, Gadkari said India imports fossil fuel (petrol/diesel) worth Rs 22 lakh crore a year and pollution is the biggest cause of health problems in the country.

Talking about the conversion of ‘parali’ (paddy straw) into biofuel, Gadkari said that farmers are also contributing towards energy generation. “Diversification of agriculture into energy and power sectors will transform farming,” he said.

The Union minister advocated the use of segregated waste in road construction, suggesting that plastic should be mixed with bitumen. “We have used 80 lakh tonnes of garbage on roads so far,” said Gadkari, citing examples from Chandigarh, Delhi and Ahmedabad.

Gadkari also raised concerns over deaths on the country’s roads. He said about 1.78 lakh people, including doctors and engineers, die in road accidents, which is more than the lives lost during the COVID epidemic or any war. These accidents cause a 3 per cent loss to the country’s GDP.

People need to be socially conscious, sensitive and responsible as it is the most important thing for human beings. Black spots causing accidents should be identified and road engineering should be enhanced, he said.

Road safety and the environment need to be improved to give a better life to people, he said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Chief Secretary Anurag Jain and other ministers were among those who attended the event.