Nitin Gadkari, India's 'Highway Man' and Bharatiya Janata Party leader, took charge as Minister of Road Transport and Highways on Wednesday.
Gadkari conveyed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reassigning him the role in the Modi 3.0 government in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. India will be equipped with world-class modern infrastructure at an accelerated pace under Modi's visionary leadership, he said.
Alongside him, Ajay Tamta and Harsh Malhotra have also assumed office as Ministers of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The 67-year-old leader from Nagpur, Maharashtra, has held the position of road transport and highways minister for the longest duration in history. Over the past decade, he has overseen the construction of more than 54,858 km of national highways in India.
Gadkari has secured the Nagpur seat in three consecutive elections. His entry into national politics occurred in 2009, when he was appointed BJP president.
Since his debut in the Lok Sabha elections from Nagpur in 2014, Gadkari has served as a central minister, handling various portfolios including micro, small, and medium enterprises, shipping, water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, rural development, and Panchayati Raj.
With PTI inputs.