What will it take to make India future-ready by 2047? Faster highways, cheaper electric vehicles, hydrogen at $1 per kg, zero toll queues and safer roads, said Union minister Nitin Gadkari at BS Manthan, Business Standard’s flagship event held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Speaking during a fireside chat titled ‘Making India Future Ready: On Road to 2047’, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways laid out a blueprint that links AI-driven infrastructure, alternative fuels, lower logistics costs and aggressive road safety reforms to India’s long-term growth story. He argued that technology, scale and speed of execution will determine whether the country can truly transform its economy over the next two decades
How AI is transforming India’s road infrastructure
Speaking about artificial intelligence (AI), Gadkari said the technology is already embedded in highway construction and monitoring.
“Innovation, entrepreneurship, science, technology, research, we call all of this knowledge. And conversion of knowledge into wealth is the future,” he said.
AI is also being deployed to eliminate toll plaza congestion. “By the end of this year, there will be no queues anywhere in India,” Gadkari said, adding that a ₹3,000 annual pass for 200 toll crossings would simplify highway travel.
Quality over targets: ‘We will not compromise’
While highway construction targets have often dominated headlines, Gadkari said quality remains the priority.
“Our challenge is to reduce construction costs and improve quality. We are not going to compromise,” he said.
To prevent delays, land acquisition and environmental clearances are now completed before awarding contracts. Multi-layer flyovers in Pune worth ₹50,000 crore and shared-pillar road-metro infrastructure in Nagpur are examples of land optimisation, he said.
