Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Jairam Gadkari (/nitin ɡʌdkʌˈri/ ^ⓘ; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician who is serving as the 40th Minister of Road Transport & Highways since 2014. 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. A senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he served as the President of his party from 2009 to 2013.

He currently represents the Nagpur constituency in the Lok 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 the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and his contributions to the development of expressways and other road infrastructure. The World Economic Forum has recognised him as the "pioneer of public–private partnership (PPP) in the road sector".

Under his tenure as Minister 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 above National Highways (excluding HSCs) has more than doubled, expanding from 18,278 km in 2014 to 45,947 km in 2024.