Pics: Abhijith N Kolpe
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru, Jan 21: BJP city (north) committee here on Saturday January 20 organized an interactive session with union minister for commerce and industry, Suresh Prabhu, at Hotel Ocean Pearl in the city, for builders, industrialists and others.

In his address, Suresh Prabhu said, "It is great to be in Mangaluru. I love coming here and interacting with you people. I would say that in the past, our economic condition was going through a critical phase, but now things have changed completely. Even though you have money and hefty bank balance, your consciousness and positive vibes in the matter of stepping into any business sector indicate the inner strength of an economy, and I would say business confidence is more important to run any kind of business. You must be confident.

"The economy in India is progressing fast, and today our economy is worth 2.5 trillion dollars. Within the next two months we will overtake France and United Kingdom in terms of size of the economy, as we are presently very close to them," he said.

"When I was the railway minister I did several things for the coastal region. Overall, we invested Rs 3.75 lac crore in railways during the last three years as against only Rs 4 crore invested in the sector during the first 70 years since independence," he added.

"We need to think of ways to increase our GDP. Each and everyone is involved in economic activity which will add to the country's GDP. GDP of India is the aggregate of GDPs of all states. We had called a meeting with chief ministers of the states and prepared an action plan with regard to this. GDP rises in the states through the economic activity taking place within its districts. So we should focus on the districts because district GDP helps in the growth of state GDP, which adds to the country's GDP. We are in the process of mapping out all the districts.

"Mangaluru has the potential to emerge as a topper in terms of increase in GDP if focus is put on improving the GDP here. Is it really difficult to increase the GDP by 3 percent if the district administration gets fully involved? We will make a complete study on it and chalk out a district plan based on the ground reality," he said.

"We have made a special package of Rs 8,450 for exporters, with midterm policy that includes self-certification which will be a complete transparent system. We will soon also remove 5% import duty on cashew and recommendation for the same has been sent to the finance minister which may bring some relief. We are also into developing a GEM portal where government will buy the products from merchants but one needs to get registered and complete the formalities. GEM portal is an easy way to start business. We are also commencing 2,000 start-ups, including some in Mangaluru," the minister said.

In his introductory address, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, said, "Dakshina Kannada district has always been at the forefront in terms of development. When Suresh Prabhu was the railway minister, he gave full thrust to the transformation in the railway department by bringing in several changes. Mangaluru railway station has dramatically changed in the last four years. As railway minister, he was known for his instant response to the grievances of passengers through Twitter. Now he has taken over as minister of commerce and industry where too he has been ushering in fresh changes in certain areas. When he was in railways, Suresh Prabhu took interest and ensured that Rs 1,500 crore was allocated for railway development in Dakshina Kannada district, and during his tenure, Hassan-Mangaluru link was completed and he readily responded to our demands.

"In addition, under 'Bharatmala' project, minister Nitin Gadkari has sanctioned Rs 924 crore for the six lane concreting of national highway BC Road to Suratkal-Mukka road. Addahole-BC Road road and BC Road-Suratkal route will be converted into six lane within a year under Bharatmala project. A committee has been formed to construct a plastic park at Ganjimath and the proposal has been sent to the central government for approval," he said.

BJP district president Sanjeev Matandoor, BJP north president Vedavyas Kamath, zilla panchayat president Meenakshi Shanthigodu and others were present.

KCCI past president Jeevan Saldanha, KCCI president Vatika Pai, CREDAI president Dr D B Mehta, Managing director Mohtisham Arshad and others took part in the interaction session.