New Delhi: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said several short-haul air routes in India would gradually shut down as
improved highways and faster road travel make flying unnecessary.
‘Short flights to shut’
Speaking at the Auto9 Awards event hosted by TV9 Network, Gadkari said people would stop choosing flights on routes where road connectivity becomes quicker and more efficient. “This year, I will shut down air services from Delhi to six destinations. Note this down,” he said. “Delhi to Dehradun, Delhi to Jaipur, Delhi to Amritsar, Delhi to Chandigarh, Chennai to Bengaluru and Mysuru to Bengaluru, people will simply stop flying on these routes.”
He cited the Mumbai–Pune corridor as an example of how better roads had already changed travel behaviour. “There were eight Jet Airways flights between Mumbai and Pune. When I built the highway, all eight were shut down,” Gadkari said, adding that such traffic shifts would directly benefit the automobile and road transport ecosystem. “Public transport should be prioritised. In the coming time, public transport is going to see a significant rise,” he said.
‘Automobile sector drives growth’
The minister described the automobile sector as a key pillar of India’s economy. “The automobile industry is the growth engine of our economy. It contributes the highest revenue to both state and central governments in GST and is also the biggest exporter,” he said. According to Gadkari, the sector has already created 4.5 crore jobs.
Referring to India’s economic trajectory, he said the country’s rapid growth would further fuel demand for vehicles. “India is the fastest-growing economy, and the Prime Minister’s vision is to make it the third-largest economy. The IMF has projected GDP growth at 7.4 per cent,” he said, adding that the automobile industry would be “the biggest driver of growth” in the coming years.
‘Faster roads, clean mobility’
Gadkari also outlined the government’s infrastructure push, saying travel times between major cities would reduce sharply. “The roads you’ve seen so far are just the trailer; the real film is yet to begin,” he said, citing projects that would cut Delhi–Dehradun travel time to two hours and Delhi–Gwalior to 2.5 hours.
On clean mobility, he said construction equipment and transport would increasingly move towards electric, hydrogen and alternative fuels, while stressing the need for greater investment in public transport capacity and better-quality roads.
