India's export competitiveness to soar with lower logistics costs: Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, speaking at the Business Today Mindrush 2025 forum, emphasised the need to boost rural and agricultural growth to accelerate India’s overall development. He highlighted the rapid growth in India's connectivity through roads, rail, and ports and predicted that bringing logistical costs down would increase the country's export competitiveness amid global trade and tariff wars.  

Gadkari elaborated on India’s ambitious infrastructure projects, including the construction of 36 green express highways aimed at reducing logistics costs from 14-16 per cent to around 9 per cent, which would enhance India’s export competitiveness. He highlighted the successful monetisation of road projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore and assured that the government has no shortage of funds, only a need for faster execution.  

Gadkari also stressed the importance of making agriculture economically viable by promoting biofuels, bio-bitumen, and other alternative energy sources. He cited successful experiments in converting corn to bioethanol and rice straw to bio-CNG, which have not only increased farmers’ incomes but also reduced India’s dependence on fossil fuel imports.