Nagpur: Gadchiroli will soon shed its insurgency tag and emerge as India’s steel hub with the state govt hammering out an ambitious plan to lay a highway linking the district to Vizag and Kakinada ports in Andhra Pradesh, said Union Road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari on Friday. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis while reiterating the setting up an airport at Gadchiroli also shared a plan of building riverine connectivity with the Kakinada port. Gadchiroli was the focal point of discussion by the twin political stalwarts at the Advantage Vidarbha Khasdar Audyogik Mahotsav, a brainchild of Gadkari.
“There was a time when children in Gadchiroli would consume red ants, instead of salt. Now they are undergoing skill development training,” said Gadkari. The minister said he has already built roads of Rs 40,000 crore in the district and this includes concrete roads. The road passing through Gadchiroli will navigate Raipur in neighbouring Chhattisgarh and go further to Vizag, extending to the port city of Kakinada, said Gadkari.
Fadnavis said land acquisition will soon begin for the airport, where even big aircraft can land. “A study has been initiated to build a river link from Gadchiroli to the port at Kakinada. Wainganga river, which traverses through the Maoist-hit region, merges with the Godavari and goes into the sea. I recently discussed the idea with the chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, and both agreed,” he said.
Continuing his announcement blitzkrieg, the chief minister said, Nagpur will soon have a plant with a capacity to make 10,000 electric buses. This will lead to a demand for 10,000 drivers too. “Boeing is expected to start work on converting passenger planes to transport jets at its Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) depot in Nagpur. It’s hoped that soon the Nagpur airport will have flights linking every city in the world,” said Gadkari.
The number of jobs created in MIHAN-SEZ has touched one lakh, he said. A group of orange farmers from Vidarbha will be flying to Spain to get the know-how on cultivating the Tango — the citrus fruit grown in the country, said Gadkari.
Fadnavis also defended MoUs signed by the state govt. Hitting out at detractors, he said if around 45% to 50% MoUs on an average get converted into actual investment in the country, Maharashtra has a much higher rate of 90%.
In the first Make-In-India summit, of 274 MoUs signed for Vidarbha, as many as 119 projects are ready, and 74 are in different stages of completion. This was followed by Magnetic Maharashtra meet, where of 138 MoUs signed, 55 have taken shape, and work on 49 projects is in progress.
Fadnavis said Ganesh Nibe of Nibe Group, a company that has forayed into ammunition making in Pune, has suggested that if govt makes available a few thousand acres of farmland, he’s ready to buy all cotton grown on it at minimum support price (MSP). It is surprising even the ammunition industry is one of the major consumers of cotton. Cellulose drawn from cotton is used for making explosives, said a source in the industry.
The chief minister said as the Navi Mumbai airport is expected to start by mid-April, he’s in talks with operators to use Nagpur as an extension. All immigration facilities for foreign travellers taking a flight from Navi Mumbai can happen at Nagpur itself.
“There was a time when children in Gadchiroli would consume red ants, instead of salt. Now they are undergoing skill development training,” said Gadkari. The minister said he has already built roads of Rs 40,000 crore in the district and this includes concrete roads. The road passing through Gadchiroli will navigate Raipur in neighbouring Chhattisgarh and go further to Vizag, extending to the port city of Kakinada, said Gadkari.
Fadnavis said land acquisition will soon begin for the airport, where even big aircraft can land. “A study has been initiated to build a river link from Gadchiroli to the port at Kakinada. Wainganga river, which traverses through the Maoist-hit region, merges with the Godavari and goes into the sea. I recently discussed the idea with the chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, and both agreed,” he said.
Continuing his announcement blitzkrieg, the chief minister said, Nagpur will soon have a plant with a capacity to make 10,000 electric buses. This will lead to a demand for 10,000 drivers too. “Boeing is expected to start work on converting passenger planes to transport jets at its Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) depot in Nagpur. It’s hoped that soon the Nagpur airport will have flights linking every city in the world,” said Gadkari.
The number of jobs created in MIHAN-SEZ has touched one lakh, he said. A group of orange farmers from Vidarbha will be flying to Spain to get the know-how on cultivating the Tango — the citrus fruit grown in the country, said Gadkari.
Fadnavis also defended MoUs signed by the state govt. Hitting out at detractors, he said if around 45% to 50% MoUs on an average get converted into actual investment in the country, Maharashtra has a much higher rate of 90%.
In the first Make-In-India summit, of 274 MoUs signed for Vidarbha, as many as 119 projects are ready, and 74 are in different stages of completion. This was followed by Magnetic Maharashtra meet, where of 138 MoUs signed, 55 have taken shape, and work on 49 projects is in progress.
Fadnavis said Ganesh Nibe of Nibe Group, a company that has forayed into ammunition making in Pune, has suggested that if govt makes available a few thousand acres of farmland, he’s ready to buy all cotton grown on it at minimum support price (MSP). It is surprising even the ammunition industry is one of the major consumers of cotton. Cellulose drawn from cotton is used for making explosives, said a source in the industry.
The chief minister said as the Navi Mumbai airport is expected to start by mid-April, he’s in talks with operators to use Nagpur as an extension. All immigration facilities for foreign travellers taking a flight from Navi Mumbai can happen at Nagpur itself.
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