Nitin Gadkari
MARG 2026: Gadkari calls for integrated transport planning
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has stressed the need for integrated planning among road, metro and railway agencies to ensure better utilisation of scarce urban land and public resources.
Speaking at MARG 2026 in New Delhi, Gadkari highlighted the role of quality infrastructure in driving economic growth and improving urban mobility.
"Roads create prosperity, and this is as true of a city street as it is of an expressway. The quality of our infrastructure can never be better than the quality of the people who plan and build it. Good work must be recognised, and poor work must have consequences," he said.
"India has transformed the journey between cities. Together, we can now transform everyday journeys within them," the minister added.
Jointly organised by the Jana Urban Space Foundation, Janaagraha and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the two-day MARG 2026 convening examined ways to transform urban road projects into sustainable infrastructure that serves the needs of all city residents.
The event featured discussions on a national vision for urban roads, presentations highlighting successful urban road projects, and panel discussions on financing and scaling up urban road transformation.
Speaking at the event, NCAER Director General Suresh Goyal said urban roads had not received the same level of attention as national highways and rural roads, despite their importance in improving quality of life, ease of doing business, sustainability and road safety.
Goyal also welcomed the collaboration between NCAER, Jana Urban Space Foundation and Janaagraha through MARG 2026. He highlighted the role of NCAER's Centre for Economics of Transportation, Mobility and Logistics (CETML) in advancing discussions on urban mobility and infrastructure.
Srikanth Viswanathan, Executive Director of Jana Urban Space Foundation and CEO of Janaagraha, said the partnership with NCAER through MARG 2026 aimed to strengthen the focus on urban roads.
"India needs a collective national imagination, funding, and action on urban roads like we have for our highways. The Tender S.U.R.E. model in Bengaluru and the CM GRIDS programme in Uttar Pradesh exist as world-class models that should be scaled countrywide in phases," he said.
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