Gadkari addresses Confederation of Indian Industry Annual Session in New Delhi
By Andalib Akhter
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari Wednesday emphasised the importance of hydrogen as a futuristic fuel that can revolutionize various industries. Addressing at the Confederation of Indian Industry Annual Session in New Delhi, he called upon the industry to prioritize Mission Hydrogen, highlighting its potential in sectors such as chemical, steel, and pharmaceuticals.
“With a well-functioning and developed road and transportation connectivity, we are embarking upon rising potentials in the tourism sector and has made tourism opportunities more affordable and accessible for individuals from all income strata,” said Gadkari at the CII Annual Session 2023, the flagship convention for Indian industry, held under the theme of Future Frontiers: Competitiveness, Technology, Sustainability, and Internationalization.
Mr. Gadkari also underlined the government’s commitment to developing industrial clusters and logistics parks for enhancing roadside infrastructure. He emphasized the significance of pre-cooling plants and cold storage facilities in these logistics parks, particularly as agricultural production and exports witness tremendous growth.
The Minister expressed optimism about the future, citing the positive impact of the government’s green expressways and economic corridors. He asserted that these developments would lead to a significant reduction in logistics costs within the next three years, thereby bolstering exports and generating more employment opportunities.
Mr. Gadkari acknowledged the tremendous progress in the tourism sector and highlighted its potential for even greater growth in the future.
The Minister notably argued that since India has a lower paying capacity, thus, India needs cost-effective models of transport and the Government is progressively working to come up with such solutions. There have been plentiful efforts at the Government’s level to improvise road connectivity even in the hilly areas, which will further boost tourism and have a multiplier effect with and opportunities for employment generation. He further mentioned that credit ratings is very essential to improve quality and speed.
Mr Sanjiv Bajaj, President, Confederation of Indian Industry remarked that “Using innovative approach towards project implementation and technological advancements, the road and transport sector has not only witnessed a tremendous transformation but also moved towards green and pro planet construction”.
He applauded the Nitin Gadkari for his innovative approach towards project implementation which has tremendously benefitted the road and transport sector in terms of building 35 multi modal logistics parks, emergency landing strips, common payment tool for transport related services and most remarkable being the Motor Vehicles Scrap Policy, launched towards the fight to curb pollution.
Besides highlighting the remarkable progress on the policy front, Mr Bajaj further applauded the Minister for reminding us of our own responsibilities, particularly nudging the industry to ensure safety on the highways as well as nudging producers to improve construction standards. He highlighted that CII is actively working in a number of similar areas and other issues like faster dispute resolution, release of arbitration payments can help the industry in further partnering with the government.
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII moderated the session.