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Tag: Nitin Gadkari

  • ‘Nefarious and fabricated campaign against me’: Gadkari hits out at detractors

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday hit out at its detractors for “concocting” his statements for a “nefarious and fabricated” campaign for political mileage.

    The outspoken minister, who last week was dropped from the BJP parliamentary board, hinted at taking legal recourse in the larger interest of the government and the party.

    “Today, once again, efforts were being made to continue the nefarious and fabricated campaign against me for political mileage on my behest by some section of mainstream media, social media and some persons in particular by concocting my statements at public programmes without context or correct reference,” he tweeted.

    He tweeted a YouTube link of his speech made at a book launch function on Tuesday that was selectively being used on social media.

    “Although, I’ve never been disturbed by such malicious agendas of fringe elements but all concerned are hereby warned that If such mischief continues, I will not hesitate to take them to the law in the larger interest of our Government, Party and millions of our hardworking Karyakartas,” he tweeted tagging BJP president J P Nadda and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

    A storyteller, Gadkari had at the book launch narrated an old incident where he had taken up the cause of building a road to a village in Maharashtra and had told the concerned official that if he stood by him it was fine but even otherwise it was fine with him.

    “I am not bothered about the consequences but I will do this job. If possible stand by me else I am not bothered,” he had said at the book launch referring to his conversation with the concerned official.

    This statement was cut to project on social media to say as if he was not bothered about losing his position.

    In particular, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh had tweeted that truncated video, asking why Gadkari was saying this.

    “BJP mein bahut badi gadbad chal rahi hai (there is something amiss in BJP),” he tweeted on Thursday morning.

    Gadkari’s tweet also came on a day when a leading newspaper carried a report quoting multiple senior BJP sources to say the former party president was dropped from the parliamentary board for his propensity to make “out of turn” and colourful remarks.

    The Minister in the tweet on Thursday said he was sharing the link of what he had actually said at the book launch to clear the air.

    NEW DELHI: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday hit out at its detractors for “concocting” his statements for a “nefarious and fabricated” campaign for political mileage.

    The outspoken minister, who last week was dropped from the BJP parliamentary board, hinted at taking legal recourse in the larger interest of the government and the party.

    “Today, once again, efforts were being made to continue the nefarious and fabricated campaign against me for political mileage on my behest by some section of mainstream media, social media and some persons in particular by concocting my statements at public programmes without context or correct reference,” he tweeted.

    He tweeted a YouTube link of his speech made at a book launch function on Tuesday that was selectively being used on social media.

    “Although, I’ve never been disturbed by such malicious agendas of fringe elements but all concerned are hereby warned that If such mischief continues, I will not hesitate to take them to the law in the larger interest of our Government, Party and millions of our hardworking Karyakartas,” he tweeted tagging BJP president J P Nadda and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

    A storyteller, Gadkari had at the book launch narrated an old incident where he had taken up the cause of building a road to a village in Maharashtra and had told the concerned official that if he stood by him it was fine but even otherwise it was fine with him.

    “I am not bothered about the consequences but I will do this job. If possible stand by me else I am not bothered,” he had said at the book launch referring to his conversation with the concerned official.

    This statement was cut to project on social media to say as if he was not bothered about losing his position.

    In particular, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh had tweeted that truncated video, asking why Gadkari was saying this.

    “BJP mein bahut badi gadbad chal rahi hai (there is something amiss in BJP),” he tweeted on Thursday morning.

    Gadkari’s tweet also came on a day when a leading newspaper carried a report quoting multiple senior BJP sources to say the former party president was dropped from the parliamentary board for his propensity to make “out of turn” and colourful remarks.

    The Minister in the tweet on Thursday said he was sharing the link of what he had actually said at the book launch to clear the air.

  • Gadkari, Chouhan dropped from BJP parliamentary board; Yediyurappa, Sonowal among six new entrants

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday dropped Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from its parliamentary board and brought in six new faces including B S Yediyurappa and Iqbal Singh Lalpura.

    Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, K Laxman, Sudha Sadav and Satyanarayan Jatiya are the other new members of the BJP’s apex organisational body — an attempt by the party to make the parliamentary board more socially and regionally representative.

    Lalpura will be the first Sikh to have a seat in the BJP parliamentary board as a person from a minority community.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and BJP president J P Nadda are among its members.

    The party also rejigged its Central Election Committee and included former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Om Mathur and its women wing chief Vanathi Srinivasan.

    Former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussain and Jual Oram have been dropped from the CEC, whose members also include all parliamentary board members.

    PTI KR JTR KR DIV DIV 08171425 NNNN

    NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday dropped Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from its parliamentary board and brought in six new faces including B S Yediyurappa and Iqbal Singh Lalpura.

    Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, K Laxman, Sudha Sadav and Satyanarayan Jatiya are the other new members of the BJP’s apex organisational body — an attempt by the party to make the parliamentary board more socially and regionally representative.

    Lalpura will be the first Sikh to have a seat in the BJP parliamentary board as a person from a minority community.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and BJP president J P Nadda are among its members.

    The party also rejigged its Central Election Committee and included former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Om Mathur and its women wing chief Vanathi Srinivasan.

    Former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussain and Jual Oram have been dropped from the CEC, whose members also include all parliamentary board members.

    PTI KR JTR KR DIV DIV 08171425 NNNN

  • Petrol vehicles will vanish from the country after five years: Union minister Nitin Gadkari

    By PTI

    NAGPUR: Union minister Nitin Gadkari has expressed confidence that green fuel will end the need for the use of petrol in vehicles in the country after five years.

    He made the statement in Maharashtra’s Akola on Thursday, where he was conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth.

    During his speech, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways made a strong pitch for the use of green hydrogen, ethanol and other green fuels.

    “With full faith, I want to say that petrol will vanish from the country after five years. Your cars and scooters will either be on green hydrogen, ethanol flex-fuel, CNG or LNG,” he said.

    Gadkari also made an appeal to agriculture researchers and experts to work on increasing agricultural growth from 12 per cent to 20 per cent in the next five years.

    The farmers in Maharashtra are very talented, he said while emphasising the need to guide and train them with new research and technology.

  • Government orders forensic probe in 4 fire in 2 wheelers; to take action after report, says Gadkari

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The government has taken very seriously the four incidents of fire in two-wheeler electric vehicles (EVs) in the past one week and will take appropriate action against the manufacturers after a forensic investigation, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told Lok Sabha on Thursday.

    He also said that as on March 25, as many as 10,76,420 EVs were registered in the country and 1,742 public charging stations (PCS) were operational.

    “A total of four incidents of fire in two-wheeler EVs have been reported in the past one week and this is a very serious issue. We have ordered a forensic investigation into each of the individual events from experts of Centre for Fire Explosive, DRDO and IISc, Bengaluru,” he said during Question Hour.

    The minister said India’s standards for approval of EV and batteries are apt with the global standards and the government will take appropriate action after the exact technical reason behind the accidents is known.

    “We are waiting for the report from the expert committee. After receiving the report, we will find out exactly what is the reason behind that. On the basis of that report, we will take appropriate action against the manufacturer,” he said.

    However, he said, he felt that the apparent reason for these incidents was high temperature.

    “We are still waiting for the report of the expert committee. After we receive the report of the expert committee, we will take appropriate action. We will also take sufficient measures for the safety of the people,” he said.

    Replying another supplementary, Gadakari said the central government is fully committed to the Paris accord on environment and protection of ecology and environment.

    He said the government has proposes to provide 650 roadside amenities on national highways out of which, work on 40 of them have already started.

  • Heavy investment needed in health, education sectors, says Gadkari

    By PTI

    PUNE: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said there was need for heavy investment in the health and education sectors in the country.

    Speaking at the inauguration of Ushakal Abhinav Institute of Medical Sciences in Sangli in the presence of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Jayant Patil, Gadkari hailed the latter’s move to create “five-star” government clinics and model public schools in the district.

    “Large-scale public-private investment is needed in the social sector, especially in health and education. It is needed as the government has limited resources,” he said.

    He added that there is less economic viability in setting up a hospital but along with the hospital if a medical and paramedical college is set up, the economic viability and the internal rate of return increase.

    India is lagging in the insurance, pension investment and shares economies, whereas almost everyone has health insurance in the US and Europe, with the insurance firm having direct contact with the hospital.

    “My department is working on building 350 heliports along the national highways because, in the coming days, drones and helicopters will be used for various purposes, including transporting patients to hospitals,” he said.

    Speaking about organ donation, Gadkari said, “Every year, five lakh road accidents take place in India. Around 1.5 lakh people die and 3 lakh people receive injuries. Some 65 per cent people in the deceased category are in the 18-45 age group. There is great need for organ donation.”

  • Development works will be carried out without bringing in politics: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

    By PTI

    PUNE: Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said that development works, be it in Maharashtra or India, will be carried out without bringing in any kind of politics.

    Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of two National Highway projects in Sangli, the Union transport minister said he considers himself an “ambassador of Maharashtra” and feels that the state should emerge on top in the country.

    “In the last seven years of my tenure, I got an opportunity to execute development works worth Rs 5 lakh crore in Maharashtra. I was in port, shipping, water resources, MSME and road transport (as a minister), but I always considered myself an ambassador of Maharashtra and feel that the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj should prosper and flourish,” Gadkari said.

    If any state should emerge as number one, it should be Maharashtra, he said. The minister further said that development works will be carried out without bringing in any politics and assured that the demands put forth before him will be fulfilled.

    “We are going ahead with an attitude that as far as development works are concerned, be it of anybody, if it is related to the development of Maharashtra or country, it will be carried out without bringing in any politics,” Gadkari said.

    As a minister for ropeways and cable cars, he appealed that proposals be sent for alternate modes of transport, especially for tourism purposes. State Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, BJP MP from Sangli Sanjay Patil and others were also present at the inauguration of Rs 2,344 crore highway projects.

  • BJP MP calls Gadkari ‘Spiderman’ for building web of roads across country

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: BJP MP Tapir Gao on Monday praised Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, calling him a ‘Spiderman’, and said he has built a web of roads across the country.

    Participating in the discussion on the ‘demand for grants of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ for 2022-23 in Lok Sabha, the MP from Arunachal Pradesh said,”I have changed Nitin Gadkari’s name to Spiderman. Like the web of a spider Nitin Gadkari has been laying wide network of roads in every corner of the country. Gadkari hai to mumkin hai (Gadkari makes it possible).” With the Narendra Modi-government in power, the speed of construction of roads in sensitive areas of the country especially on the India-China has border has picked up pace, Gao asserted.

    “With Modi government coming to power, the pace of road construction near the China border has also grown. Today, under Modi’s leadership, a two-lane road is being constructed till McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.

    “I hope that ‘Spiderman’ will continue to carry on with the speed at which roads are being built,” Gao added.

    Gao said when as the BJP president, Gadkari had formed a committee to visit sensitive areas near the Indo-China border and it took them several days to cover all the points due to poor condition of roads. Now roads are being constructed in all those areas, he said.

  • Cutting logistics cost by 6 per cent major challenge, says Gadkari

    By PTI

    AMARAVATHI: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said here on Thursday that speed limit for vehicles on expressways would soon be increased to cut the fuel costs, and thereby the logistics cost.

    Rules and regulations in this regard would be changed, he said. Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone for numerous road development projects in Andhra Pradesh worth Rs 21,559 crore, the Union Minister noted that high logistics cost was proving a major problem for Indian exports.

    “Our logistics cost is 16-18 per cent whereas it is 8-10 per cent in China and 12 per cent in Europe and the USA. That’s one of the problems in our exports since the costs are high. We are going to accept this challenge and reduce the logistics cost to 8-10 per cent,” Gadkari said.

    He said “time has come” to change the rules and regulations related on speed limit on expressways as access-controlled expressways were crucial to reduce fuel costs.

    Stating that there was no shortage of money in his Ministry, Gadkari said the Centre has decided to build 22 greenfield expressways across the country as road infrastructure was vital, including six in Andhra Pradesh.

    “Ports, waterways are very important. Road construction is equally important. And, as far as development is concerned, we don’t want to discriminate anybody, because the country belongs to everybody,” he observed.

    He said a staggering Rs 3 lakh crore would be spent on road construction in AP by 2024. “Role of AP is very important in making India economically strong. We will extend 100 per cent support for road development in the state,” the Union Minister added.

    Gadkari remarked that “strong political will” was very important to build good infrastructure projects.

    Referring to the major greenfield expressway projects for AP, Gadkari said a 465-km expressway between Raipur and Visakhapatnam, traversing through Chhattisgarh, Odisha and AP, would be built at a cost of Rs 16,102 crore.

    This would help in increasing business, particularly the container traffic, since railways was already jammed. This project would be completed by the end of 2024.

    Greenfield expressways were also underway between Nagpur and Vijayawada (405-km, costing Rs 15,000 crore), Chittoor and Trichur (116-km, Rs 5,000 crore), Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam (Rs 6,000 crore) and Bengaluru and Chennai through AP (Rs 17,000 crore).

    These roads would help in the development of backward regions as well as trade. Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy, AP Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, state Roads and Buildings Minister M Shankara Narayana and others spoke.

    Union Minister of State for Road Transport Gen (Retd.) V K Singh addressed the meeting via a video link from New Delhi.

    Gadkari later inaugurated the 2-km-long second fly-over at Benz Circle Junction in Vijayawada city, built at a cost of Rs 96 crore. Later, he went to the Chief Minister’s camp office and discussed various road development proposals.

    A release from the CMO said Jagan sought Gadkari’s help to build the six-lane beach corridor road from Visakhapatnam to Bhogapuram, where a new international airport is proposed to be constructed.

    The Union Minister also agreed to fund the construction of 30 road-over-bridges across the state, pending for long due to dearth of funds.

  • ‘I will make it happen… I don’t lie’: Gadkari says UP will see roads worth Rs 5 lakh crore 

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Urging the electorate to re-elect the BJP government in UP, Union Minister for Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari on Monday promised to make the highways better than the European standards and match them with the US parameters in the next five years.

    “I will make that happen. I will do it to fulfil my promise. I never lie,” said the Union Minister in Jaunpur, the eastern UP district adjoining Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

    Gadkari made the promise while dedicating four national highways and other development schemes worth Rs 1,123 crore to the people of Jaunpur in the presence of UP CM Yogi. They also launched another four national highway projects worth Rs 3,037 crore in Mirzapur on Monday.

    Addressing a public rally in the Machchlishahr Assembly constituency of Jaunpur, Gadkari urged people to trust him and back the Yogi government for the development to take place at a higher pace in future. “Back Yogiji, elect the BJP again. I will bring in (road) development of another Rs 5 lakh crore in the state. When such work will happen, UP’s road infrastructure will match the US,” he said. 

    ALSO READ | Amit Shah attributes 2019 victory to ties with Nishads as BJP woos allies ahead of UP polls

    The Union minister claimed that he had a ministry with sufficient funds. “States will get tired seeking money but we won’t get tired of giving out. I assure you development worth a lakh crore rupees in UP, let the double engine government be formed in the state for next five years,” said Gadkari. The minister also praised the Yogi government over the law and order scenario and dismantling the organised crime syndicates being run by the mafia for the last so many years.

    “In UP, the state government has bulldozed the mafia and goonda raj. Today the entire country is praising CM Yogi for action on mafia as he had brought the state back on the development track,” said Gadkari. The Union minister claimed that there was no place for dynastic politics in the BJP. 

    “We are not a clan-specific or family-specific party.  We are a cadre-based party of patriots,” said Gadkari asking the people to compare the state of affairs in UP when BJP was not in power with the situation today. He added that CM Yogi was taking the state towards ‘Ramrajya’ as perceived by Mahatma Gandhi.

    Meanwhile, addressing the gathering on the occasion, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said that earlier governments had narrow thinking which was limited to one family only. “Now for PM Modi, 135 crore countrymen are a family hence big development projects are getting implemented,” he added.

    Talking about the taint of corruption which UP had earlier, CM Yogi said during previous regimes, with the announcements of vacancies, the whole family used to go out for extortion in the name of providing the job. “But today we have given five lakh jobs and no one can raise finger on a single appointment because of the transparency in the process,” he maintained.

    Taking a jibe over SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s statement over the anti-COVID vaccine saying he would not get a jab as it was a BJP vaccine, CM Yogi said: “The vaccine which is being administered free of cost is saving people from COVID. Now the public will oppose those who opposed the vaccine,” said UP CM.

  • Bringing petroleum products under GST regime will reduce taxes on petrol, diesel: Gadkari

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Bringing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products under the single nation-wide GST regime will reduce taxes on these products and increase the revenue of both the Centre and states, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday.

    Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will definitely try to bring petrol and diesel under GST if she gets the support of the state governments, said Gadkari while addressing the Times Now Summit virtually.

    “In the GST Council, finance ministers of states are also members. Some states are against bringing petrol and diesel under the GST regime. If petrol and diesel will be brought under the GST regime, then taxes on these products will be reduced and revenue of both the Centre and the states will increase,” Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, said.

    The GST Council on September 17 had decided to continue keeping petrol and diesel out of the GST purview, as subsuming the current excise duty and VAT (value-added tax) into one national rate will impact revenues.

    Including petrol and diesel under GST will have resulted in a reduction in near record-high rates.

    Sitharaman, after the GST Council meeting in Lucknow, had said the Council discussed the issue only because the Kerala High Court had asked it to do so but felt it was not the right time to include petroleum products under GST.

    “It will be reported to the High Court of Kerala that it was discussed and the GST Council felt that it wasn’t the time to bring the petroleum products into the GST,” she had said.

    Replying to a question on the Centre’s recent decision to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by a record Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre to help bring down rates down from their highest-ever levels, Gadkari said the government has taken a good initiative to provide relief to the common man.

    “The way the Centre has provided relief to the common man (by cutting excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre, respectively), there is an expectation that the states will also cut taxes (VAT rates) on diesel and petrol to provide relief to the common man,” he said.

    Buckling under pressure, the government on November 3 cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by a record Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre to help bring down rates from their highest-ever levels.

    Several BJP-ruled states and Bihar, where the BJP is part of the ruling coalition, also reduced VAT rates, giving further relief to consumers.

    In recent months, crude oil prices have witnessed a global upsurge.

    Consequently, domestic prices of petrol and diesel had increased in recent weeks, exerting inflationary pressure.

    Reacting to allegations that the government cut excise duties on petrol and diesel keeping in mind results of the 30 assemblies and three Lok Sabha by-elections, Gadkari said: “For us, politics is an instrument of socio-economic reforms. And, we don’t do politics to win elections.”

    He said the Indian economy is growing and the country has huge investment potential.

    “We need good infrastructure. We are constructing 38 km of highways a day,” said Gadkari adding that the government has given high priority to good infrastructure.

    Asked about the quality of roads built by the state-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Gadkari said his ministry is corruption-free, nobody has any allegation to make against him or his officials.

    “Just because accidents happen, we can’t say that the quality of the road is bad,” he added.