Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said here on Thursday that Madhya Pradesh could become a prosperous state if it increased its soybean production. “Soybean production on one acre of land is six quintals in Madhya Pradesh, whereas Brazil produces 26 quintals, Argentina 28 quintals and US 30 quintals on the same acreage. If it manages to improve its production capacity, MP will become a prosperous state,” he said while delivering a lecture on ‘Steps towards Atmanirbhar Bharat’, organised by Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV).
Gadkari said that research was a tool which could help Madhya Pradesh find a solution to the problem of limited production of soybean crop. The Union minister was the keynote speaker and chief guest, while higher education minister Mohan Yadav, water resources minister Tulsiram Silawat and MP Shankar Lalwani were special guests at the event. Vice-chancellor professor Renu Jain, registrar Anil Sharma and BJP city chief Gourav Ranadive were also present on the dais. Gadkari stated that research should be need-based and it should hinge on the availability of local resources and raw materials.
Coming to the subject of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Union minister said there were two areas which were responsible for the progress of the country—one was industry and another was agriculture. “Agriculture and its allied industries’ contribution to the country’s GDP is 12-13 per cent and manufacturer’s contribution is 22-24 per cent, while the service sector’s contribution is 52-56 per cent. The first step to building an Atmanirbhar Bharat is to increase the country’s manufacturing capacity and, subsequently, grow exports along with reducing imports simultaneously,” he said.
Gadkari said that it was up to the youth to make India a happy, prosperous and powerful nation.
Talking about Ahilya Bai, he said that the erstwhile queen of Malwa was larger than life. “She devoted her life to the welfare of the people,” he said.
Road contract to Ambani refused
Remembering an incident, Gadkari said there was a time when the Maharashtra government had wanted to build the Mumbai-Pune expressway. ‘Dhirubhai Ambani’s tender was the lowest at Rs 3,600 crore. I, as a Maharashtra Cabinet minister, refused to grant the project to Ambani, saying that the road cost shouldn’t be more than Rs 2,000 crore. Ambani told me it was the country’s first highway and the road wouldn’t cost lower than Rs 3,600—at least not the amount I was quoting. The talks failed and we didn’t grant the tender to Ambani. At that time, a reporter asked me how much money my department had. I told him only Rs 10 crore and I’d build the road for Rs 2,000 crore in two years as I had the political will. I got the road built for Rs 1,600 crore,’ he said. Gadkari said that, if there was the will, there was a way. “But, if there’s no will, there’s survey, seminars, committees, sub-committees and so forth,’ he quipped.
Green hydrogen is fuel of future
§ Gadkari, who travels in a car run on hydrogen extracted from water, said that green hydrogen was the future. Vehicles, trains, aeroplanes, industries and so forth will all run on green hydrogen
§ Brown hydrogen is made from petroleum, black hydrogen is made from coal and green hygroden is made from organic waste. It can be made from dirty water—waste to wealth
Our values against live-in ties
Gadkari said people would not get to know the power of their country until they went abroad. Recalling a conversation between him and the UK prime minister during his visit to England, Gadkari said, “He asked me, ‘What’s the biggest issues of India?’ I replied, ‘Poverty, huge population and so on.’ Then, I asked him what was the biggest issue that UK was facing. The PM replied that the youths of their country got involved in live-in relationships due to which the social system was collapsing. ‘It bothers us to imagine what’ll happen if this continues’,” Gadkari quoted him as saying.
“The UK foreign minister asked me, ‘Isn’t this an issue in India, as well?’ I replied the cases were negligible and that our cultural values didn’t encourage such a society,” he added.
