Nashik (Maharashtra): India also needs "smart villages" along with “smart cities,” Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said.

Speaking after inaugurating a statue and memorial of late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde at Nandur Shingote in Sinnar taluka of Nashik district, Gadkari emphasised that farmers can play a bigger roll.

Farmers should become suppliers of energy along with suppliers of food, he said, adding that “there is a need to implement the 'smart village' concept along with the smart city project.”

The minister said that Munde worked for farmers through schemes such as the Krishna Valley, Tapi Irrigation and Vidarbha Irrigation projects.

Gadkari said Munde led the farmers from the front and to take forward his legacy various schemes will have to be implemented for farmers' children.