New Delhi, July 26 (IANS): The central government was concerned over the large number of road accidents in India and was trying to "minimise" them, union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday.

A large number of people die or get injured every year in road accidents and the government was trying all possible ways to reduce the number of casualties, the minister for road transport, highways and shipping told a TV channel right after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern in his 'Maan Ki Baat' radio programme over the increasing number of road accidents.

"Five lakh road accidents take place every year. Three lakh people get injured and 1.5 lakh die. We are trying to identify the vulnerable spots and widen the roads to ease congestion. We are trying to minimise the accidents," Gadkari said.

Earlier in the day, Modi said the central government will soon implement the National Road Safety Policy and cashless treatment for road accident victims.

"The statistics on road accidents in our country are shocking. There is an accident every minute. And due to road accidents, there is a death every four minutes," he said in his monthly radio address.