Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari (born May 27, 1957) is an Indian politician. Gadkari is a senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party and President of its Maharashtra unit. Hailing from Nagpur, he studied LLB and M Com.

Gadkari is currently the leader of opposition in Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad. Earlier he served as cabinet Minister of the Public Works Department in the Government of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999. He is credited with the construction of 55 flyovers in the Mumbai and Mumbai-Pune motorway. He was called flyovers man. Ratan Tata was very impressed by him.

Mr. Nitin Gadkari
Chairman
Ex Minister, Govt Of Maharashtra &
Chairman, Purti Group Of Companies

  • President, Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra State
  • Ex-Leader of the Opposition, Maharashtra Legislative Council
  • Former Minister for Public Works Department, Maharashtra State
  • Member of Legislative Council, Maharashtra State

Born on: 27 May 1957, in the city of Nagpur, India.

Educational Qualifications:– M. Com., L.L.B., D.B.M.

Elected to the Maharashtra Government Legislative Council in 1989 from graduates constituency, Nagpur Region.

Re-Elected in the year 1990.

Re-Elected in the year 1996 and elected unopposed in 2002.

Inducted in the Maharashtra State Government Cabinet as the Minister for Public Works on May 27th 1995.

Ex-Member of the High Power Committee for Privatisation, Government of Maharashtra.

Ex-Chairman, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd., India. Ex-Guardian Minister for Nagpur District, Govt. of Maharashtra.

Ex-Chairman, Mining policy implementation Committee, Govt. of Maharashtra.

Ex-Chairman, Metropolis beautification committee, Govt. of Maharashtra.

Ex-Leader of Opposition, Maharashtra Legislative Council, Chairman National Rural Road Development Committee and Chairman, Review Committee of CPWD, Govt. of India.

Visited Israel, Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, United States, Canada, Brazil and Srilanka as part of MSSIDC, MSRDC, Govt. of Maharashtra and Govt. of India delegation.

Mr. Gadkari happens to be a vociferous orator and a man of remarkable dynamism in the state politics of Maharashtra. Known for his continuous crusade for the upliftmen of the downtrodden, he represents the progressive group of political leaders with a keen interest in industrial and commercial development.

He has been the Founder-Chairman of Poly sack Industrial Society Ltd. which manufactures rigid P.V.C. Pipes and in a very short span, has grossed an annual turnover of Rs. 3,00,00,000/-

He has been the Promoter Director of Nikhil Furnitures and Appliances Pvt. Ltd. which manufactures epoxy powder-coated premium range steel furniture.

Mr. Gadkari is also the Founder Member of Antyodaya Trust which manufactures “Ketaki” silk sarees on a Cooperative basis. He is also the Founder Chairman of Empress Employees Co-operative Paper Mills Ltd. which is manufacturing Craft paper and is the first unit of its kind where the state government has participated with the labor-management to run the company.

Mr. Gadkari is an agriculturist and has a deep interest in the areas of Water Management, Solar Energy Projects, and modern methods of agriculture. Recently he has started exporting fruits to various countries under the banner Ketaki Overseas Trading Company.

He knows, Software Industry can be fast developed in the region. Apart from establishing Software Technology Park in Nagpur, he himself started software development work through his Softlink Technology Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Nitin Gadkari is also a sports enthusiast and has a particular interest in Cricket. As a family man, he is happily married to Mrs. Kanchan and is the father of three bright kids; Nikhil, Sarang, and Ketki.

Mr. Gadkari is a leader with strong convictions and is a dedicated worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mr. Nitin Gadkari took the charge of Public Works Department of Govt. of Maharashtra in May 27tn 1995 as a Cabinet Minister.

From day one he consolidated his command and completely reshaped the Public Works Department. He honors the intelligence and scientific skill of the Engineers and often declares that our Engineers are in no way inferior to the world-class community. This confidence made the engineers work hard and produce results.

First of all Mr. Gadkari planned to give all-weather road connectivity to 13736 villages that were remote and unconnected even after 50 years of independence. This work required a lot of finances which were inadequately available from the annual budget. Mr. Gadkari convinced NABARD officials and got a loan of Rs. 700 crores for rural connectivity. Simultaneously he conceived the idea of Privatisation in Infrastructure and many budgeted projects were diverted to the arena of Privatisation. By this two-way method, he got ample money for the rural road sector. In 4 years’ time, nearly 98% of the total population got road connectivity and many districts completed the target of 100% road connectivity. Mr. Gadkari is still working hard to achieve 100% road connectivity for entire rural Maharashtra before March 2000.

Mr. Gadkari identified the priority areas where the department must work with all its strength. The districts of Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and Bhandara were Naxal inflected and no road work was being allowed by Naxalites. Mr. Gadkari asked Border Road Organisation to work in this mainland and with the help of BRO, he constructed roads and bridges in the Naxal affected areas. Now the tribals also have the nearest road access.

Mr. Gadkari also identified the problem of malnutrition in the remote Melghat -Dharni area of Amaraoti district. There was no access available for the tribals and the result was no medical aid, no ration, and no educational facilities.

Malnutritional deaths were the fait accompli to these people. Mr. Gadkari took the challenge and decided to give all-weather connectivity to the 91 abandoned and remote villages of this area. With almost efforts, the dedicated engineers worked overtime and road connectivity in this hilly area also became a reality. Till now, 85 villages got all-weather road connectivity and the work of road construction for the reaming villages is also underway. Mr. Gadkari proclaims that this road connectivity will change the Socio-Economic scenario of this region and truly, the rate of malnutritional deaths has come down.

The efforts of Mr. Gadkari can be seen on the roads. Many new rural roads have been blacktopped, many widened and strengthened. Any commuter can feel the better condition of the roads in Maharashtra when he crosses the state borders.

Mr. Gadkari took the pledge of completing the Sagri Marg which was a long-awaited dream of the people of the Konkan region. In 4 years of his regime, this dream came true and Konkan got the link of Sagri Marg barring 2 large bridges in the sea creek. The work of these bridges also is being undertaken shortly. Mr. Gadkari is particularly happy with the work done in rural areas because of his conviction and commitment to the rural masses.

When Mr. Gadkari thought of rural road infrastructure he toyed with the idea of Privatisation. In the process he thought, the roads, Bye-passes, and bridges that have a heavy traffic density could be built on a BOT basis. He worked on this idea and campaigned for investment in infrastructural projects. He addressed investor meets, groups of contractors and builders, and also various trade organizations. His continuous campaign cleared the doubts and finally, the hesitation melted and people started investing in road and bridge projects. Now the contractors and investors compete to get the project on a BOT basis.

Mr. Gadkari formulated the scientific methodology of BOT projects. He initiated traffic surveys and worked out IRR (Internal rate of return) and decided the concession period of toll. He made the Govt. of Maharashtra change the existing rules and formulated the toll policy. It was a great job to convince the people in Govt. particularly the bureaucrats. But his persuasion and scientific approach virtually changed the mindset of the people in power, the bureaucrats, and the engineers as well. He appointed a committee to adopt International standards in bridge and building technology and changed the existing bridge codes. He emphasized using the latest machinery like vibrating rollers, electronic sensors, paving machines, piling rigs, pre-fab technique, etc. by which the entire construction industry was upgraded. The contractors brought imported high skilled computerized machinery worth 400 crores and they started using those for the first time in India. The total credit of this upgradation goes to Mr. Gadkari and to his vision. In this time of economic recession the 5000 crore infrastructural projects undertaken by Mr. Gadkari gave a new lease of life to the cement, steel, and bitumen industry in India.

Mr. Gadkari wanted fast-track projects to be completed in time-bound manner. He established Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, a fully Govt. owned company and undertook large projects like 55 flyovers in Mumbai costing 1500 crores, Mumbai Pune Expressway of 1500 crores and many other bridges, road, and bye-pass projects in various parts of Maharashtra. He has also planned to construct Vani – Ghuggus railway line through MSRDC. He was working on creating good infrastructure in the cities like Pune, Thane, Aurangabad, and Nagpur costing 2000 crores. He also wants to establish International Air Cargo and Passenger Hub in Nagpur which will have a Capital investment of 5000 crores. Light rail transport system for Nagpur and other cities was also on his priority agenda. He wants to start the work of Mumbai-Nasik, Mumbai-Talasari, and Mumbai -Sawantwadi Expressways in the very near future. He also wants to build Mumbai – Nagpur Expressway for which the primary evaluation work has already been started.

Mr. Gadkari has become a savior of Mumbai. He was honored by Mumbai Bhushan Award and was felicitated by various organizations in Mumbai. The work of 55 flyovers was at full pace. He has widened many roads, wants to create underpasses and over bridges for smooth traffic in Mumbai. He also wants multistoried parking lots in extremely crowded areas. Worli-Bandra Sea Link project was going to be the “Pride of India” and being readied for foundation stone laying ceremony at the hands of Hon. Prime Minister on 1st May 1999. It is a single pillar cable-stayed environment-friendly bridge.

He was pursuing hard for the environmental clearance from the Central Govt. to the Nhava Sheva – Shivdi sea link project of 5000 crore rupees. He was confident of getting all clearances soon and wants to start the work before Dec. 1999. In many ways, he is on his toe to make the living in Mumbai bearable and easy.
For the first time MSRDC a Govt. owned company went to the capital market and raised Rs. 1180 crores. This in the largest collection in the Capital Market history of India. Mr. Gadkari has gained the confidence of the investors and was confident to raise Rs. 2000 crores again for the upcoming projects. Crisil has already given AAA rating to the MSRDC.

Mr. Gadkari gave an entirely different face to the department. He undertook a complete computerization Programme for the department. P. W. D. now was the first Governmental department which works on Computers. He asked to change the old grabby furniture and gave good working condition to the staff like any other Multinational company.

He was worried about the accidents on his roads. He appointed a committee to study the accident-prone spots on the roads of Maharashtra. He immediately accepted the suggestions of the committee and with the budgetary provision of 20 crores, he asked the officials to make these spots accident-free. Such work has never been done before.

Mr. Gadkari implemented a scheme of self-employment to the civil Engineers. These unemployed engineers were registered as contractors and PWD gave them the work up to 15 Lakh without tender and with an advance of Rs 40,000. By this scheme, 18000 Engineers got the opportunity to work independently.

He put the pressure of work on the staff of the department which was gladly accepted. Punish the wrong and honor the right person was the theme of his management system. He felicitated the best engineers at the hands of Hon. Governor. He took the help of consultants for various projects and handed over the responsibilities to them. In this way, be could work on large projects without putting more burden of extra manpower on the department.

Apart from being Minister for Public Works, he was Guardian Minister for Nagpur District. In his last 4 years he changed the face of Nagpur City and district. He constructed a long flyover and many concrete Roads in Nagpur, developed gardens and playgrounds, he enhanced drinking water system and planned to meet the requirement of water in 2020. Big good roads and street lights in slum areas, low cost housing schemes for economically weaker section of the society, Botanical Garden project, markets for street hawkers, beautification of religious places like Deekshabhumi, Tajbag, integrated sports complex, Krida Prabodhini in Nagpur, processing plant for handloom and power-loom cloths and software technology park are some of the land mark achievements of Mr. Gadkari as a guardian Minister. He organised and lead the great plantation drive in Nagpur district. He planted 40 lakh trees in last 2 years in all over the district including Nagpur City. He wants to make Nagpur the Greenest City in India. Nagpur city and district will remember him forever for his various developmental works.

After completing his term as PWD Minister Mr. Gadkari now shoulders the responsibility of the leader of the opposition Maharashtra Legislative Council.

Considering the vision and vast experience of Shri. Gadkari, Union Government appointed him as Chairman of the National Rural Road Development Committee. After series of meetings and study, Shri. Gadkari submitted the report to the central Govt. and gave the presentation to Hon. Prime Minister of India. His report was accepted and a new rural road connecting scheme now popularly known as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was launched. The ambitious scheme is Rs. Sixty Thousand crores and would be completed in 5 years.

Shri. Gadkari is also playing a very important role as Chairman of Review Committee to monitor the functioning of CPWD, under the urban development department, Govt. of India. He has already submitted his initial primary report and the Urban Development department of the central Govt. has accepted it. He would submit his final report in a very short time.