NEW DELHI: Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, said on Friday that logistics cost, which is 16% of GDP currently, will fall to single digits, by 2024.

The Minister asserted that it will help us raise our exports and that this is the ideal opportunity to expand our trade and market share internationally.

The Minister added that India's road infrastructure would meet US standards before 2024 came to a conclusion. The Minister was speaking during the 95th Annual General Meeting of FICCI.

Gadkari said, India has the world's fastest-growing major economy and is on track to reach a GDP of $5 trillion by 2024–2025. He claimed that through promoting investment, economic growth, and job creation in order to achieve sustainable development, India is on the right track to creating an inclusive Bharat. But, he said, "we need cooperation, coordination, and communication between all stakeholders."

Gadkari also mentioned the advancements in battery chemistry, saying, "We should be the sector leaders." The government wants to expand the size of the vehicle industry to Rs 15 lakh crore, he continued. "This will provide new employment opportunities and elevate India to the status of one of the world's leading automakers." He said that "we are attempting to minimise the usage of cement and steel in building work by embracing substitutes including fly ash, oil slag, waste plastics, and demolition trash," highlighting the significance of sustainability in the construction sector. Minister Gadkari requested that FICCI create an all-encompassing growth plan for the next 50 years.

On the occasion, Sanjiv Mehta, President of the FICCI, said that the government's "all-inclusive, all-pervasive, and all-round development measures" are changing India and bringing the country closer to Aatmanirbhar Bharat with each step. He added that the National Logistics Policy would play a key role in laying out an integrated route for economic growth. He also said, "the increased spending on infrastructure construction is contributing to a multiplier impact in revitalising the overall demand in the economy." By 2030,  "Infrastructure construction alone has the potential to deliver 25% of incremental growth in non-farm jobs," he concluded.

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