Gadkari brings Clean Ganga mission to UK

Union minister Nitin Gadkari today called on UK-based companies to participate in the Clean Ganga mission.
The minister for road transport and highways, shipping, water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenationsaid he has a series of meetings scheduled with UK ministers and officials associated with river re-generation during his ongoing visit to the UK.
"We have a very good scheme for projects associated with Clean Ganga, where projects are being offered on a 15-year maintenance basis. These include plantation projects as well as anti-pollution measures," Gadkari told a gathering of the Indian Journalists' Association (IJA) in London.
"We have a very good plan for Ganga and 20 tributaries of Ganga, with the use of specialised technology...the idea is to give the responsibility to different corporates and companies with an emotional attachment to Ganga," he said.

He said of the 95 projects associated with 'Namami Gange', 25 have already started and the remaining will be open to tender by the end of March, 2018, while another ambitious project of river connectivity by using excess water from the river Godavari to address water scarcity problems in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is also underway.
"Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, we have a great vision for progress and development of the country which is corruption-free," he said.

The minister held informal talks with UK Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling at the event.
"We have been talking about the things that we can do together. The partnership that exists between our two countries is of enormous importance to us. As we go through the Brexit process, India is right at the top of the list of friends of the UK with which we wish to deepen our relationship," Grayling said.

Gadkari, along with Indian High Commissioner to the UK Y K Sinha, also presented IJA's Lifetime Achievement Award to Sunanda Datta-Ray, former editor of 'The Statesman' newspaper, for his work as the London correspondent of the Indian newspaper and also as the India correspondent of 'The Observer' newspaper in the UK.
During his UK visit, Gadkari is scheduled to address the International Maritime Organisation as well as finalise a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Transport for London (TfL) agency to facilitate the sharing of expertise and latest technology to promote efficient mobility solutions in India's transport sector.