When Nitin Gadkari earned the title “Highwayman of India”, it wasn’t just for his passion for roads. It was for a track record that was measurable, transformative, and sustained. Under his stewardship, India’s national highway network expanded from roughly 96,000km in 2014 to over 146,000km by 2024 at unprecedented speed.

Travel times dropped, connectivity improved, and logistical costs, once hovering around 16% of GDP, have fallen to about 10%, with an ambitious target of 9% by 2026. His formula was consistent: a clear vision, steady funding, technological innovation, and relentless execution. In 2017, as Union Minister for Shipping, Gadkari turned his sights to Mumbai’s eastern waterfront, unveiling a redevelopment plan unlike anything the city had seen........

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