Gadkari calls Maha industry, commerce, agri sectors to collaborate for growth

Mumbai, Feb 5 (UNI) Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said the industry, commerce and agriculture sectors in Maharashtra will have to work in unison to come up with a vision document to achieve inclusive growth in the state. Speaking at the 94th anniversary program of the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA), Gadkari said, “Agriculture is the backbone of our development. It has a lot of potential to reduce expenditure costs, especially the logistic cost. Therefore, in order to achieve inclusive growth and development of Maharashtra, the industry, commerce and agriculture sectors must collaborate and prepare a vision document for the state, outlining the assistance that they would need from both the Central and the state governments.” Stating that the decision to blend ethanol with petrol saved many sugar companies from going to NCLT, Gadkari said the government is targeting to increase the blending percentage of ethanol to 20 per cent. “India is the fastest growing economy in the world and Maharashtra is the fastest growing economy in the country. World is today preferring India to China. We can have a great potential to increase our exports,” the minister said, adding that there is a need to innovate and develop import substitutes and improve exports. Batting for adoption of technology, innovation, R&D and skilling, Gadkari said there was a need to focus on conversion of ‘knowledge to wealth’ and ‘waste to wealth’. Gadkari noted that green hydrogen is important to fuel the growth of the automobile industry. He further said that since water is an essential component in the process of producing green hydrogen, there is a need to explore usage of treated sewage water for this and also use ethanol engines. Talking about the potential of the automotive industry in creation of employment, exports and revenues to both the Central and state governments, he said in the next five year the sector will double to almost Rs 15 lakh crore from the current Rs 7.5 lakh crore.