Calling it a 'remarkable achievement' for the country and its bamboo sector, Gadkari said this crash barrier offers a perfect alternative to steel and addresses environmental concerns.

The condition of roads in UP was not good before the year 2014. After the Narendra Modi government came to power, National Highway has increased from 7,643 km to 13,000 km in the state, Nitin Gadkari said.

Delhi-Mumbai expressway will connect the urban centres of Delhi through the Delhi-Faridabad-Sohna section of the corridor along with a spur to Jewar Airport and Jawaharlal Nehru Port to Mumbai through a spur in Mumbai.

The unknown caller reportedly made extortion demands and issued death threats targeting Gadkari - who is currently in Nagpur for the Makar Sankranti festival -- before disconnecting abruptly.

Speaking about the logistics cost, Gadkari said, "Our logistics cost is a big problem. Presently, it comes to 16 per cent, but I am promising you that up to the end of 24, we will take it to the single digit, up to 9 per cent."

The expressway between Delhi and Mumbai would be almost complete in December. With this, the distance between the two cities can be covered in 12 hours, Nitin Gadkari said.

Scrapping of govt vehicles: This is a big change as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and rice-producing parts of the country, where burning of rice straw causes pollution.

Trouble for Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been mounting over his remarks on Maratha icon Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as MLA from the ruling party came forward demanding his ousting from the state.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in Assam: Among various road projects announced by the Gadkari, there is an elevated 38-kilometers-long corridor project in Kaziranga National Park for Rs 6,000 crore.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari surprised everyone by heaping praises on Congress veteran and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recognizing his effort to reform the Indian economy in the 1990s.

The Union minister said, the economic reforms started by Singh as the finance minister in 1991 gave a new direction to India as it ushered in a liberal economy

Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that the pollution issue can be solved in stakeholders come together keeping politics aside.

Talking about shortage of petrol pumps and gas stations here, Gadkari said the government will try to bring an electric mobility system.

The trust has 636 km of operational national highways with it now across eight sections, which will touch 1,500 km over the next three years.

After the inauguration of the 81st session of the Indian Road Congress (IRC), Gadkari said a total of Rs 5 lakh crore will be invested on roads in Uttar Pradesh before 2024, an official release said.

Seat belt alarm or safety-belt reminder means a system dedicated to alerting the driver when the driver and all other front-facing seat occupant(s) do not use the safety belt.

The union minister has suggested that automobile manufacturers can offer some discounts to people for new purchases of vehicles against scrapping of old ones.

Gadkari said that the government is now looking at two options -- a satellite-based toll system where the GPS will be there in a car and the toll will be directly subtracted from the passenger's bank account and the other option through number plates.

Road safety ad: In the advertisement, Akshay Kumar plays a police officer at a wedding, talking to the father of the bride, about the number of airbags in a car.

An electric highway generally refers to a road which supplies power to vehicles travelling on it, including through overhead power lines.