While taking up issues from industry leaders related to the rate of economic growth and the need of job creation, Mr. Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping of India, emphasized the importance of agricultural sector in overall Indian economy in general and creation of jobs in particular. He was speaking in an interactive session organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) here today.

To respond to the question of non-equitable growth and the farmers being left out from the Indian growth story, the Minister assured that the present Government is connecting all parts of society and helping citizens with equitable growth. With the huge requirement of job creation in India, Infrastructure has to be the key enabler of growth. Minister Gadkari mentioned that his Ministry is quite well on track for the completion of daily target of 30 kilometers of roadways. As a result, it will create 50 lakh jobs in 5 years and also contribute 2% to the national GDP. His Ministry is quite aware of the road safety issue that is claiming more than 1.5 lakh lives in India a year. A bill related to this is due for approval.

Mr. N.K Singh, Senior Member of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also joined the discussion. In the Indian context, to make growth sustainable, he said that India needs to create greater synergy among education, skill and employment. Another important issue related to infrastructure is giving access to affordable energy. In this regard, Mr. Singh said that it is misleading to present India as an energy surplus country. The poor distribution system is actually making huge wastage of energy and subsequent loss. Minister Gadkari mentioned that the existing energy tariff system has to be revised to make the system sustainable in the long run.

This was the closing plenary session of the National Strategy Day on India, moderated by Nik Gowing, International Broadcaster, United Kingdom. Some of the major areas of discussion through the day were food security, skills, financial inclusion and clean and renewable energy, which were summarized here.