Mr. Nitin Gadkari inaugurates CII Industry Next Summit- 2018

Mr. Nitin Gadkari inaugurates CII Industry Next Summit- 2018

Bengaluru 24 March 2018: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), organized Industry Next – ‘The Emerging New Growth Paradigm’ in the city today. The summit was inaugurated by Union Minister Mr. Nithin Gadkari, in the presence of Mr. Vikram Kirloskar, Chairman CII, Southern Region, Mr. Suvarna Raju, Chairman, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Mr. R. Dinesh, Deputy Chairman, CII – Southern Region. The summit aimed to understand the changing face of industry globally and in India amidst a turbulent and evolving global economy.

Delivering the inaugural address Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India stated that progress in the road sector has been growing consistently, he said that the current road construction is at 28 kilometers a day and the target for next year is 40 kilometers per day. He stated that the government has already signed work contracts for projects worth Rs. 850,000 crores for roads, ports, shipping, water resources.

Stating that the plan of the government is to develop 2 lakh kilometers of highways, with 12 express highways, he said that work on a new highway between Bangalore and Mysore at the cost of 7000 crores, will commence from today. He also said that the government will start work on a ring road for Bangalore which will cost around Rs.10,000 crore. Mr. Gadkari said that work on the 16000 crore express highway project between Bangalore and Chennai is expected to start by end March or beginning of April this year.

Elaborating on water being a concern area in the country he said that water planning rather than shortage is the real issue. He said that the government has decided to solve the water problems in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan by utilizing water from the rivers flowing into Pakistan. He stated that the government has introduced a new scheme where water will reach the farmers through innovative technology using pipe system rather than canals; avoiding land acquisition costs to the tune of Rs.6000 crores. Citing the case of Godavari, where 3000TMC of water is flowing to the sea, he said that the government is constructing a dam in Polavaram in Andhra Pradesh at the cost of Rs. 60,000 crores to check the flow of water of Indravati river, which is a tributary of Godavari and flows in full spate through a thick forest.  This water can then be carried till the tail end of Tamil Nadu, almost 1,300 kms by pipeline. Once this project is completed, Tamil Nadu will get almost 450 TMC of water. He said that the Government is very keen on developing Karwar port and is willing to spend Rs.3000crores for the projects if the state government is in agreement.

Touching upon waterways as cheaper logistical option he said that government is encouraging seaplanes and called on HAL to form a joint venture with government to manufacture seaplanes. According to him around 10,000 seaplanes would be required in the next two years.

Mr. Gadkari also emphasized the urgent need to reduce pollution and urged the automobile industry to produce vehicles that would run on electricity and alternate fuels like ethanol and methanol which could be produced from agricultural waste. Conversion of waste into wealth is the future, he said.

Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Suvarna Raju, Chairman Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) said that meeting the demand of growth while also improving sustainable efforts, is a big challenge for both industry and the nation. He said that according to the recent sustainable development goal index India ranks 116 out of 157 countries. He stated that India has committed to several sustainable development goals including conservation of nature, meeting the development challenges like poverty eradication, food security, universal access to education, health and energy. He urged Indian industry to take a shot at global leadership in the fight against climate change and the broader move to low carbon economies through technology. He said that the Indian aerospace industry, both military and civil stands uniquely poised today on the threshold of catapulting itself into the global arena. Due to the overwhelming support and involvement of the Government, in the demand and supply of defense and civil aerospace products, the industry has set itself on the firm path of transformation, he said. Stating that India is presently the 9^th largest civil aviation market in the world and is projected to become the 3^rd largest by 2020, he said that the domestic capability is being significantly enhanced with extensive tieups, joint ventures and technology transfers. He stated that the manufacturing MSME sector contributes 8% to India’s GDP, 45% to India’s total output and 40% to total exports. He said that HAL has laid out an indigenous policy which continuously explores opportunity to collaborate and strengthen the MSME entities in the aerospace sector.

In his welcome address, Mr. Vikram Kirloskar, Chairman, CII Southern Region, said that India is the third largest force for startups ecosystem globally, housing around 4200 starups and generating around 85,000 employment opportunities. This ecosystem is projected to grow to around 11,500 by 2020 with job creation projected to rise to around 250 to 300,000. New employment is expected to add a further 20-25% of the workforce, he said.  He stated that there are high chances that globalization, demographics and industrialization 4.0 will have an impact on the key sectors of the industry and challenge growth. Hence the need of the hour is to collaborate with and incentivize industry for skilling in exponential technologies to create an industry 4.0 ready workforce. He stated that there is an intrinsic link between talent and innovation and the success of any manufacturing economy depends ultimately on the quality of its innovation and innovators.

Mr. R Dinesh Deputy Chairman, CII Southern Region said that Global Developments and the disruptive growth scenario have impacted both traditional industries and new age entities, leading to the expedition for growth and sustainability. He said that he rules of global commerce are changing as countries and organizations race to create a future that aligns with their own distinctive visions.

The day long summit, deliberated on key areas including, Regulatory Excellence, Sustainability and Diversity, Global Shocks, Carbon Foot Print Reduction Commitment, Diversity, COP 23, Job Creation , Indistry 4.0, New Gen Technologies, Future of Work and New Generation Leadership amongst others.