Overview

• Gadkari told attendees that there is ample funding for big-ticket schemes, citing allocations ranging from ₹50,000 crore to ₹2 trillion.
• He likened the bureaucracy’s refusal to embrace novel ideas to disciplined cattle grazing in a straight line.
• The minister revealed that 406 infrastructure projects worth ₹3.85 trillion were held up by red tape, risking ₹3 lakh crore in bank non-performing assets.
• He said that by terminating some schemes and rectifying others, work resumed and banks were protected from massive NPAs.
• He lauded Kelkar’s flexible policy approach, highlighting his role in forging GST consensus in 2009 and drafting reforms with lasting impact.