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Projects worth 5 lakh crore executed in Maharashtra: Nitin Gadkari
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of two national highway projects in Sangli, Gadkari said he considers himself an “ambassador of Maharashtra” and feels that the state should emerge on top in the country in terms of progress and economy
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said that ministries under him have executed projects worth ₹5 lakh crore in Maharashtra. The minister said that development works, be it in Maharashtra or India, will be carried out without any political interests.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of two national highway projects in Sangli, Gadkari said he considers himself an “ambassador of Maharashtra” and feels that the state should emerge on top in the country in terms of progress and economy.
“In the last seven years of my tenure, I got an opportunity to execute development works worth ₹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 said development works put forth before him will be fulfilled.
“We are going ahead with a promise 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 has invited proposals for alternate modes of transport, especially for tourism purposes.
State water resources minister Jayant Patil, BJP MP from Sangli Sanjay Patil and others were present at the inauguration of ₹2,344 crore highway projects.
Gadkari underlined the importance of water conservation along the national highways to address various issues.
He said to encourage the export of sugar, he is ready to set up a logistic park or satellite port in Sangli. “I am building 29 road-cum-airstrips. Seven are already built. I am ready to build another at the logistic park where any plane can land,” he said.
The minister said he is building a new national highway from Pune to Bengaluru and it has been designed in such a way that vehicular traffic will not be affected in monsoon. “The proposed highway is 699 km whereas the current distance on the NH 4 (Mumbai- Pune -Bengaluru highway) is around 775 km. The alignment is completed and it will go through backward regions and drought-prone areas of Pune-Satara-Sangli district,” said Gadkari.
He said his ministry is building bitumen roads on a big scale. “Praj industry in Pune has successfully made bitumen out of sugar bagasse and biomass. I tell this every time that farmers should not remain just ‘anna data’ (food donor) but become ‘urjadata’ (energy donor),” he said.
Gadkari said for bitumen, he is going to hold a meeting in Delhi. “We are considering to make the use of bitumen produced by the biomass for all national highway projects mandatory. So, farmers in the country will give a substitute for petrol-diesel by producing ethanol, they will also give a substitute for energy and the same farmers will give bitumen and there will be no need to export it,” he said.
He said the economy of western Maharashtra is dependent on sugar and he has been emphasising producing ethanol instead of sugar. “There is smile on your (sugar cane cultivators) faces as there is drought situation in Brazil (the highest sugar-producing country), but once sugar production goes up there and once the prices go down by ₹10 kg in India, think of the situation of Indian farmers,” he said.
He added to avoid this situation, in the coming days, there will be a need to produce ethanol instead of sugar and bitumen from bagasse.
(With agency inputs)
