India’s logistics costs will fall to single digits by December this year, mainly due to rapid expansion of expressways and economic corridors across the country, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.
Addressing the ASSOCHAM 2025 annual conference, Gadkari mentioned that a recent joint report prepared by IIT Chennai, IIT Kanpur and IIM Bangalore supports this. The report revealed that the construction of expressways and economic corridors helped reduce the country’s logistics costs to 10% from 16% earlier.
“India’s logistics costs will come down to 9% by December, which will help India become more competitive. I am 100 percent confident that this will benefit our industry and make our exports more competitive,” he said.
This reduction may make Indian exports more competitive as logistics costs are 12% in the US and European countries and 8-10% in China, PTI reported.
Ambitious goals for the automotive sector
Gadkari has set an ambitious goal of making the Indian automobile industry the world’s number one within five years.
The minister noted that after he took charge as the transport minister, the size of the Indian automobile industry has grown ₹14 million million crowns ₹22 million million crowns. The sector currently lags behind the US auto industry in size ₹78 lakh crore, followed by China at ₹47 crores.
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Gadkari said the automobile sector in the country provides employment to 4 crore youth and is the highest source of GST revenue for the Center and states.
Solving the import of fuel
The minister emphasized that India’s dependence on fossil fuels has turned out to be an economic burden ₹22 million crowns are spent annually on the import of fuel, which represents not only an economic burden, but also an ecological risk that leads to pollution.
Talking about air pollution in India, Gadkari said that 40% of it, especially in cities like Delhi, is due to fuel. He called for widespread adoption of clean energy, which is key to the country’s progress, PTI reported.
“We are working in the national interest to reduce the pollution of our country,” he said, adding that it is time the world, like India, promotes biofuels and alternative fuels.
The minister further said that the government has launched a program under which it aims to use all the separated solid waste in the country in road construction by 2027, thereby creating value from waste.
Gadkari’s take on boosting GDP growth
Gadkari also urged industry bodies to focus on the agriculture sector, which he sees as critical to boosting India’s GDP growth and achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Independent India).
The government’s decision to allow the production of bioethanol from corn proved to be beneficial to farmers as they earned extra ₹45,000 crore by producing ethanol from corn. The price of corn rose from ₹1,200 up to ₹2,800 per quintal since the government’s move, PTI reported.
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“We made an addition ₹45,000 crore to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the reason is that the maize plantation has increased three times in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This will increase growth in these states,” the minister said.
He emphasized the need for new technology, innovation and research in agriculture to increase the growth rate of the sector, which is the need of the country. “Without growth in agriculture, we cannot create Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” Gadkari said.
