Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has announced that the government is constructing 25 greenfield expressways spanning 10,000 km across India at an investment of ₹6 lakh crore, underscoring a major push toward infrastructure-driven growth.

Speaking at the 120th Annual Session of PHDCCI, he highlighted key milestones, including the near completion of the Zojila Tunnel, significant strides in reducing logistics costs, and an ambitious vision to make India’s automobile industry the world’s largest within five years.

He said the highways ministry will get Rs 15 lakh crore if it monetises its road projects.

The road transport and highways minister also said that the construction of expressways and economic corridors has helped reduce the country’s logistics costs by 10 per cent from 16 per cent earlier.

“India’s logistics cost will come down to 9 per cent by December, which will help India become more competitive,” he said.

Logistics costs are 12 per cent in the US, 12 per cent in European countries and 8 to 10 per cent 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,” the minister said.

“When I took charge as transport minister, the size of the Indian automobile industry was Rs 14 lakh crore. The size of the Indian automobile industry now is Rs 22 lakh crore,” Gadkari added.

He said the automobile sector provides jobs to 4 lakh youths and provides the highest GST to the centre and states.

Presently, the size of the US automobile industry is Rs 78 lakh crore, followed by China (Rs 47 lakh crore) and India (Rs 22 lakh crore).

He noted that India’s dependence on fossil fuels is an economic burden, as Rs 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.

The minister said there is a need to focus on agriculture to boost India’s GDP growth.