Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said his government’s policies were aimed at reducing poverty and creating jobs, as he cautioned against economic liberalisation that could lead to concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.
“Our objective is to create an economic option that will eliminate poverty, create jobs for youth and lead to creation of wealth,” he said in his address at the National Conference of CA Students-2025 and added “we need such an economic option”.
He said previous governments under P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh adopted an economic liberalisation framework.
“But with economic liberalisation, we should also make sure that there is no centralisation of the economy. It should not be that the number of poor is slowly increasing while wealth is getting centralised in the hands of a few,” the minister cautioned.
“There has been a sea change in the economic landscape (in the last decade) and your role is crucial in this change,” the minister said.
At the event, Gadkari also touched upon a range of issues, including agriculture, manufacturing, taxation and public-private partnerships in infrastructure development.
He highlighted the evolving role of chartered accountants, Gadkari said, “CAs can be the growth engines of the economy. Our economy is changing rapidly. It is not only about filing income tax returns and GST submissions.” Talking about infrastructure development, Gadkari highlighted his own initiatives in the transport sector.
“I was the one who started the Build-Operate-Transfer system for road construction,” he said.
There is no shortage of funds for road development, he added.
“Sometimes I say I do not have a fund crunch but I have a shortage of work,” Gadkari said.
“Now, we earn nearly Rs 55,000 crore through toll booths and in the next two years, our income will go up to Rs 1.40 lakh crore. If we monetise it for the next 15 years, we will have Rs 12 lakh crore. New toll will add more money to our coffers,” he said.
The minister also spoke about projects aimed at enhancing regional connectivity and investment.
“We are constructing a ropeway of Rs 5,000 crore in Kedarnath. The contractor is ready to spend the amount and give Rs 800 crore royalty to the Union government. When the Uttarakhand government asked us to share the royalty, I asked whether they would also share the loss-making units,” he said.
On domestic investments, Gadkari said he has raised funds through Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) bonds without foreign assistance.
“I am not accepting money from foreign countries like Canada or the US. I will build roads from the money raised from the poor people of the country,” he said, adding that the share which was at Rs 100 has now jumped to Rs 160 and people will get nearly 18 to 20 per cent returns. (Agencies)
