Nitin Gadkari | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways | |
| Assumed office 26 May 2014 | |
| President | Pranab Mukherjee Ramnath Kovind Droupadi Murmu |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Oscar Fernandes |
| Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises | |
| In office 30 May 2019 – 7 July 2021 | |
| President | Ramnath Kovind |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Giriraj Singh |
| Succeeded by | Narayan Rane |
| Union Minister of Shipping | |
| In office 26 May 2014 – 30 May 2019 | |
| President | Pranab Mukherjee Ramnath Kovind |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | G. K. Vasan |
| Succeeded by | Mansukh L. Mandaviya |
| Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation | |
| In office 3 September 2017 – 30 May 2019 | |
| President | Ramnath Kovind |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Uma Bharti |
| Succeeded by | Gajendra Singh Shekhawat |
| Union Minister of Rural Development | |
| In office 4 June 2014 – 9 November 2014 | |
| President | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Gopinath Munde |
| Succeeded by | Birender Singh |
| Union Minister of Panchayati Raj | |
| In office 4 June 2014 – 9 November 2014 | |
| President | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Gopinath Munde |
| Succeeded by | Birender Singh |
| Union Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation | |
| In office 4 June 2014 – 9 November 2014 | |
| President | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Gopinath Munde |
| Succeeded by | Birender Singh |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| Assumed office 16 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Vilas Muttemwar |
| Constituency | Nagpur, Maharashtra |
| 9thNational President of Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| In office 23 December 2009 – 23 January 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Rajnath Singh |
| Succeeded by | Rajnath Singh |
| President ofBharatiya Janata Party – Maharashtra | |
| In office 5 April 2005 – 22 December 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Pandurang Fundkar |
| Succeeded by | Sudhir Mungantiwar |
| Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council | |
| In office 23 October 1999 – 11 April 2005 | |
| Chief Minister | Vilasrao Deshmukh Sushilkumar Shinde |
| Preceded by | Chhagan Bhujbal |
| Succeeded by | Pandurang Fundkar |
| Minister of Public Works of Maharashtra | |
| In office 14 March 1995 – 18 October 1999 | |
| Chief Minister | Manohar Joshi Narayan Rane |
| Preceded by | Shivajirao Deshmukh |
| Succeeded by | Vijaysinh Mohite–Patil |
| Member ofMaharashtra Legislative Council | |
| In office 20 July 1990 – 16 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Gangadhar Fadnavis |
| Succeeded by | Anil Sole |
| Constituency | Nagpur Graduates |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nitin Jairam Gadkari (1957-05-27)27 May 1957 (age 68) |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 (2 sons and 1 daughter) |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | nitingadkari |
Nitin Jairam Gadkari (/nitinɡʌdkʌˈri/ ⓘ; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician who is serving as the 40thMinister of Road Transport & Highways since 2014.[2][3] He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways, currently in his tenure for over eleven years, and is the only person to serve under a single portfolio for three consecutive terms.[4] A senior leader of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he served as the President of his party from 2009 to 2013.[5]
He currently represents theNagpur constituency in theLok Sabha and 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 Expressway and his contributions to the development ofexpressways and other road infrastructure.[6][7] TheWorld Economic Forum has recognised him as the "pioneer ofpublic–private partnership (PPP) in the road sector".[8]
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 aboveNational Highways (excluding HSCs) has more than doubled, expanding from 18,278 km in 2014 to 45,947 km in 2024.[9][10]
Nitin Gadkari was born into aMarathi Brahmin family[11][12][13][14][15][16] inNagpur, India to Jairam Gadkari and Bhanutai Gadkari on 27 May 1957.[17][18] During his adolescence, he worked for theBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the student unionAkhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. He completedM.Com. andLL.B. fromNagpur University.[19]
Gadkari served as the Minister ofPublic Works Department (PWD) of theGovernment of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999 and restructured it from top to bottom.[20] He has served as the president of theMaharashtra state unit of BJP.[21]
Gadkari strongly supportedprivatisation while he campaigned for investments in infrastructure fromprivate firms. He addressed several meetings between private investors,contractors, builders and varioustrade organisations and 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 inMaharashtra was extended to 98% of the population. The project aimed to connect 13,736 remote villages which remained unconnected since independence by road.[22][23] It also helped amelioratemalnutrition in remoteMelghat-Dharni area ofAmravati district, which previously had no access to medical aid,ration or educational facilities.
Gadkari was the architect ofPradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.[24] He received the Late Madhavrao Limaye Award by Public Library Nashik, for Most EfficientMember of Parliament for 2020-21.[25][26]
As PWD Minister ofMaharashtra, Gadkari played a crucial role in expediting the construction of theMumbai-Pune Expressway.[31] In 1990, theGovernment of Maharashtra conducted feasibility studies for the new expressway to be operated on a toll basis, however, it was only after Gadkari took over as PWD Minister[32] that the construction of this project was fast-tracked. Gadkari entrusted the work of the construction ofMumbai-Pune expressway toMSRDC in March 1997 on Build-Operate-Transfer basis with permission to collect toll for 30 years. The tender notice[33] was 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 theKhandala andLonavala-Khandala bypass 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 minister[34] was the construction of 55 flyovers in Mumbai, which eased the city traffic problems significantly.
Gadkari was appointed the president of theBJP in December 2009. This was considering a tough phase for theBJP as the party had lost two successiveLok Sabha elections and needed a quick revamp.[35]
In his bookIndia Aspires, co-authored withTuhin Sinha,[36] 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.[37]
AsBJP party president, Gadkari, re-emphasised on legendary Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhya's principles ofIntegral Humanism andAntyodaya (upliftment of the poor). At the same time, various cells[38][39] were constituted within the party to regularly monitor the develop work undertaken by variousBJP state governments and to come up with new policy inputs.
Gadkari resigned as party president in January 2013.[40][41]
Gadkari contested 2014 Lok Sabha election successfully fromNagpur constituency and won. He defeated Congress party candidateVilas Muttemwar by margin of 285,000. He retained his seat in 2019, defeatingNana Patole of Congress party by 216,000 margin.[2]
Gadkari became theMinister of Road Transport and Highways andMinister of Shipping in May 2014.[42] Out of the stalled projects he inherited, projects worth₹1 trillion (US$12 billion) were terminated and others worth₹350 billion (US$4.1 billion) were put up for rebidding.[43] 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.[44] He reserved an amount of one per cent of the total projects awarded in his tenure worth₹2 trillion (US$24 billion) for trees and beautification.[45]
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 Enterprises on 31 May 2019.[46] 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.[47][48] 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.[49]
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 theNHAI officials and bureaucracy.[50][51][52]
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.[53][54] The Bharat NCAP has been launched on the lines of Global NCAP,[55] which is based onLatin NCAP 2016.[56] Due to absence of safety features in cars made forIndia, 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.[57][58] 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.[59]
Gadkari, organises Khasdar Sanskrutik Mahotsav every year inNagpur. 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 Trivedi andAdnan Sami.[60][61]
In March 2024, he was announced as theBJP candidate from his home constituency Nagpur in the2024 General Elections.[62] He secured a decisive victory for the third consecutive time, defeating his closest Congress rival by a margin of 137,603 votes.[63][64]
During his career in politics, Gadkari set up a number of private industries and companies.[65] These include –
Gadkari has registered himself as anagriculturist for tax purposes. He also started a fruit export company under the banner of "Ketaki Overseas Trading Company".[27] He owns a total of 17 sugar plantations inVidarbha under the banner of the Purti group. Gadkari floated the Purti Power and Sugar Ltd (now Purti Group) in 1995,[67] 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.[68] Another three investing firms were found co-located with the Somani Group, but no one knew of these firms.[69] 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.[70]
In 2010, when the Purti group had incurred losses of Rs. 640 million,[71] 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.[72] 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,[73] but opposition leaders have argued that all this suggests aquid pro quo for political favours granted by Gadkari.[74]
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 Today reported that BJP leaderShanta Kumar had suggested that Gadkari's presence was "affectingBJP's anti-corruption campaign."[75] 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"[76] his chances unravelled with several senior leaders suggesting that the I-T indictment of the Purti groups investments had damaged his image,[77] and Gadkari was not re-elected.[78] Gadkari told theTimes of India that he was stepping down until the inquiry proved him innocent.[79] Some RSS functionaries have suggested that his exit was the result of infighting.[80] Subsequently, Gadkari threatened the I-T officers, saying "when our party comes to power, there would be noChidambaram orSonia to save them (I-T officials)"; Gadkari said,"Earlier CBI was doing Congress's bidding and now the I-T people are following suit."[81] The I-T officers association took umbrage at these remarks and demanded an apology.[82]
Eventually, in May 2013, theIncome Tax department assessed that Gadkari's firms had evaded Rs. 70 million via suchbenami investments and other practices. On 30 April 2014, then Congress union MinisterManish Tewari apologised 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.[83] On 13 May 2014, the Income Tax department ofMaharashtra state cleared Gadkari's name and gave him a clean chit saying there is no investigation presently pending.[72][84][85] GPS based toll collection will start on National Highways, said Nitin Gadkari.[86]
Nitin Gadkari is married to Kanchan Gadkari and they have three children, Nikhil, Sarang and Ketki.[87][88] His eldest son Nikhil is married to Rutuja Pathak[89] and Sarang Gadkari is married to Madhura Rodi.[90] Gadkari and his family follow avegetarian diet.[15]
In August 2019, Gadkari created controversy when he stated that he had advised the thenUnion Finance Minister to sack theRBI Governor because the latter was "inflexible and adamant".[91]
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 in Nagpur. Maharashtra'sCriminal Investigation Department (CID) attempted to close the case twice, but local courts rejected the closure reports.[92] Gadkari's employees claimed that the girl had accidentally locked herself in the boot of the car and died of suffocation, while her mother alleged that she had been murdered. The post-mortem report indicated that Yogita was smothered to death.[93] According to a release on 21 May 2009 by senior police inspector R. S. Katole, blood stains were found on the child’s undergarments, as well as on her private parts. Her mouth was reportedly found open and her lips turned black. A vaginal swab was sent to a regional forensic laboratory to determine if she had been sexually assaulted.[94]
In 2025, Gadkari faced criticism over the nationwide rollout of petrol blended with 20% ethanol (E20). Critics alleged that the move reduced fuel efficiency, caused potential damage to older vehicles, and primarily benefited ethanol-producing companies linked to his family, such as Cian Agro Industries & Infrastructure Ltd and Manas Agro Industries, in which his sons reportedly held stakes.[95] Congress alleged a conflict of interest, claiming that the ethanol policy disproportionately aided such companies whose revenues surged after the policy change. Gadkari denied any wrongdoing, stating that he had "no role" in issuing contracts for ethanol production and that his family's firms accounted for less than 0.5% of national output.[96] He also alleged that much of the criticism of the E20 policy was part of a "paid political campaign" to discredit him.[97] TheSupreme Court of India dismissed a petition that sought to halt the rollout of E20, thereby upholding the government's blending policy.[98] Media reports also noted that several social media influencers were engaged in paid promotional campaigns to support ethanol blending and the E20 fuel policy.[99]> Gadkari following the footsteps of Brazil, wishes to increase ethanol percentage in petrol to 35%.[100][101]
On 27 October 2023, a Marathi language biopic titledGadkari was released inMaharashtra.[102]
The Mhaiskars are Chitpavan, while Gadkari is a Deshastha Brahmin
In another mail of Friday, July 5, 2013, a detailed plan from Vaibhav Dange is forwarded to the captain by Sunil Bajaj, from Essar Services. This mail lists Nikhil and Sarang Gadkari as contact persons, and lists their mobile numbers. The planner adds, "Everybody is Vegetarian and prefers Asian vegetarian that is Indian Veg, Chinese Veg etc."
Mr Gadkari is full of ideas about development and food. Had it not been politics, he perhaps could have been one of the best food critics. His stout and rather over-nourished figure though stands testimony to his fondness for food, it actually doesn't tell a complete story. An authority on pure vegetarian and Maharashtrian food, Nitin equally loves to take his friends on culinary trips
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| Shiv Sena (18) | |
| Nationalist Congress Party (5) | |
| Indian National Congress (2) | |
| Swabhimani Paksha (1) | |
| GE 2014 result summary |
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| 2014 bye-election |
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| 2018 bye-election |
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| See alsoRajya Sabha members from MH for | |
| GE 2019 |
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