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Nitin Gadkari was born on 27th May 1957 in a Maharashtrian family with roots in agriculture in the orange-city Nagpur.
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As a student, he aggressively campaigned against the National Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
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Gadkari got involved very closely with the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and took to social work in a big way. He was particularly inspired by the RSS founder K. B. Hedgewar’s ideals of Humanity and Nation Building.
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Gadkari completed his Post-Graduation in Commerce, besides studying Law and obtaining a Diploma in Business Management.
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Gadkari formally entered politics in 1980 and served as PWD Minister in Maharashtra government during 1995-99.
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He was elected to the state legislative council for four consecutive terms. He was also leader of the opposition in the upper house.
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He became BJP’s State President in Maharashtra in 2005 and was elevated to the post of party’s national president at the young age of 52 in 2009.
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Gadkari introduced agrarian reforms in Maharashtra including water conservation, organic farming, encouragement to bio-fuel and several other farmer welfare projects covering healthcare, agro-based small & cottage industries, tribal & rural handicraft and bamboo craft.
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Gadkari adopted the PPP (Public Private Partnership) model popularly known as BOT (Build Operate Transfer), for executing infrastructure projects.
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He was instrumental in successfully executing India’s first expressway – the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and 55 flyovers in Mumbai, in record time.
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Gadkari was elected to the 16th Sabha from Nagpur winning by an impressive margin.
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On 26th May 2014, he was first time sworn in as the Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping. Later, on 3rd September, 2017, he was given additional charge of Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation.
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As a minister for road transport & highways he is credited with achieving fastest highways construction rate, taking it from 3 km/day in 2014 to 30 km/day.
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During his tenure as the Union Minister Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation, the monumental Namami Gange project became a mass movement involving central and state government agencies, private sector and foreign investors, NGOs, spiritual and social organizations as well as the common people.
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An innovative hybrid annuity model was adopted to take up more than 200 river cleaning projects across the length and breadth of Ganga.
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The results of “Nirmal and Aviral Ganga” were clearly evident during the 2018 Khumbh Mela in Prayag Raj.
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With his political stature he resolved inter-state disputes on water sharing and river linking involving 16 rivers in 11 states in a short span of six months.
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During his tenure as the Shipping and Inland-waterways & Ganga Rejuvenation, first Inland Waterway was developed and goods movement was commenced between Varanasi and Kolkata adding new dimension to logistical history of the country.
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Road safety has always been and continues to be, even in the second term of the NDA government, very close to Gadkari’s heart. He has put Road Safety in mission mode.
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As a signatory to the Brasilia Declaration, India remains committed to reducing by 50% the number of road accidents and fatalities by 2020.
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He has introduced a new comprehensive Highway Capacity Manual and enacted a world class Road Safety Act.
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Gadkari is currently engaged with one of the most challenging assignments of generating five million employment opportunities for the youth and women in the Ministry of Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) sector.
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The core of his strategy for promoting MSME & Khadi & Village Industries includes use of technology including green technology, financing through credit insurance, creation of transaction based digital financing platform and improving cluster based approach for industrial development.
