Gadkari Urges Indian Firms to Form Joint Ventures With High-Tech U.S. Companies
NEW DELHI — Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said Thursday that Indian companies should form joint ventures with U.S. firms to gain access to advanced technologies and strengthen industrial growth.
Speaking at the annual leadership summit of the American Chamber of Commerce in India, Gadkari said India’s rapid economic growth and U.S. technological strength make deeper business collaboration important.
“India is the fastest growing major economy while US companies develop lots of new technologies, so it is very important for Indian companies to have joint ventures with US companies,” Gadkari said.
The minister said the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is also considering consulting U.S. companies for the preparation of detailed project reports for highway projects.
Gadkari said supply chains are central to logistics efficiency and noted that India’s logistics costs have fallen to single digits, helped by the expansion of expressways and economic corridors.
He cited a study by IIT Chennai, IIT Kanpur and IIM Bangalore showing that the construction of expressways and economic corridors has helped reduce India’s logistics cost to 10 percent from 16 percent earlier.
Gadkari said logistics costs stand at 12 percent in the U.S., 12 percent in European countries and 8 percent to 10 percent in China.
The minister also said the government aims to make India’s automobile industry the largest in the world within five years.
“When I took charge as Transport Minister, the size of the Indian automobile industry was Rs 14 lakh crore. It is now Rs 22 lakh crore,” he said.
Gadkari said the automobile sector provides jobs to 4 lakh young people and generates the highest GST revenue for the Centre and states. He said the U.S. automobile industry is currently valued at Rs 78 lakh crore, followed by China at Rs 47 lakh crore.
The minister also said India’s dependence on fossil fuels remains an economic burden, with Rs 22 lakh crore spent annually on fuel imports. He said the use of fossil fuels also creates environmental risks, making clean energy adoption essential for the country’s growth.
Gadkari said the government has identified 10 highway stretches across the country for green hydrogen-powered trucks as part of efforts to reduce vehicle emissions.
The stretches include Greater Noida-Delhi-Agra, Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark, Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Surat, Sahibabad-Faridabad-Delhi, Jamshedpur-Kalinganagar, Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad, among others.
AMCHAM includes more than 400 U.S. companies, along with individual and honorary members. The U.S. ambassador to India serves as the organization’s honorary president, while its elected national executive board includes country heads from major U.S. corporations. (Source: IANS)
