₹60,000 Crore Spent, But Gurugram Still Choked: Gadkari Deflects Infrastructure Question With Auto Industry Pitch

A media interaction on Tuesday triggered sharp debate after Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari appeared to sidestep a direct question on Gurugram’s deteriorating traffic and infrastructure conditions, despite massive public spending over the years.

During the interaction, a journalist pointed out that over ₹60,000 crore of public funds have reportedly been spent on Gurugram’s infrastructure over the last two decades. But instead, the residents of the Capital have to bear worsening traffic congestion, rising pollution levels, and chaos while commuting daily. 

Answering the question, Gadkari bypassed issues on urban planning, road design, gaps in execution, and accountability. He spoke about India’s automobile industry, saying it has provided jobs to about 4.5 crore youths, increased GST revenue, and made the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative stronger.

The response went on to immediately attract criticism over social media, with many users questioning if the revival at a macro industrial growth level is an adequate response to the concerns on local urban governance failures affecting citizens' quality of life. Gurugram's problems, they said, were a result of miscoordination, lapses in planning, and faulty implementations rather than the lack of investment altogether. Notwithstanding the online backlash, the minister did not issue any separate clarification or a detailed response to address the infrastructure-specific concerns of Gurugram.

The exchange has once again brought into focus a broader question facing India’s rapidly expanding cities: Should policymakers offer clearer, issue-specific answers when confronted with local governance failures, especially after large-scale public spending?