Creating demand for steel, cement but industry indulging in cartelisation: Gadkari

The minister said that they are now looking for some alternative for steel and cement, and he is working hard on it.

Road construction has touched 37 km per day and huge road infrastructure is being created, he said at a webinar.

He added that ''our contractors are moving fast but I am very sorry that when I am creating demand for steel and cement , the industry is making cartel and exploiting people. That is really painful for me.'' Inaugurating the Vedanta Saathi programme, Gadkari said international technology can be accepted to reduce the demand of steel and cement and ''now we are taking a lot of initiative for that''.

He also said that to boost India's economic growth, there is a need to reduce imports and exports.

India has all the resources like copper and zinc but despite that the country's import bill is high, he said adding that MSMEs have to play a key role in self-reliant India initiatives.

There is a plan to increase the share of exports from MSME in the country's total exports to 60 per cent from the current 48 per cent, and create additional 5 crore jobs in the next 5 years.

Further, Gadkari suggested Vedanta Resources Executive Chairman Anil Agarwal to make industrial clusters near highways as it will increase exports and create jobs.

''We need to develop industrial clusters in the country,'' he added.

The minister suggested Agarwal to support the making of biofuel in place of importing crude oil as it would help boost the agriculture sector.

Talking about the COVID-19 pandemic, he said that in Nagpur, several people have died and ''I am searching for oxygen, and ventilators...it is a really bad situation... Every where we are facing problem but I am confident that with the positivity and self confidence we will win this war against COVID-19''.

He is a member of parliament from Nagpur.

Speaking at the webinar, Agarwal said there are immense opportunities for the MSME sector to scale up their businesses, with access to new-age technologies, opportunities to upskill, and quality raw materials.

''Currently, more than 150 of the company's MSME customers have availed channel financing to access a credit limit of about Rs 1,000 crore by leading banks and NBFCs.

''Vedanta is committed to grow this limit by 5x for MSME customers, adding more banks and NBFCs to its fold,'' he added.

Citing an example of the telecom sector, he said the same revolution can be brought in the power sector as currently, 62 power plants are closed.

He added that the company makes zinc, and about 500 new industries can be set up in this sector alone.

Vedanta's key offerings for MSMEs under the Saathi programme include — channel financing at attractive rates and fast disbursement, in partnership with a host of leading banks, NBFCs and fintech firms; soon launch of e-commerce solutions for buying from Vedanta's products; and avenues for technical upskilling.

The other offerings include opportunities to set up downstream/ancillary manufacturing units near Vedanta's plants, with benefits like timely delivery of raw material; and single window for MSMEs to interact with Vedanta's innovation team through a dedicated web portal.