India can become strong eco power with right policies: Nitin Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said the country needs "good" leadership and appropriate policies to become a strong economic power but also made it clear that he was "not talking politically".

Underlining that good governance and development is a continuous process, the senior BJP leader said more than 1400 archaic laws have been scrapped under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I believe that with appropriate policies we can convert India into a strong economic power. This is the time for appropriate policies and do away with bad governance. I am not talking politically, and in the interest of the democracy and in the interest of the country, we need good leadership," the Road Transport and Highways Minister was speaking at the IIT-Bombay Entrepreneurship Cell event in Mumbai.

"I believe our future is bright with innovation and technology. We have the potential to become the number one economic power in the world," Gadkari said.

In conversation with Jupiter Capital founder Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the minister said the most important thing before technology and resources is the capability of taking decisions, transparency, teamwork, appropriate vision and commitment for the society.

There are lot of reforms required in the government, and under prime minister Narendra Modi's leadership we have scrapped over 1,400 archaic laws so far, he said.

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"Continuous good governance and development is a process and there is no end to it. The more you do the more you need," he added.

Gadkari said the country needs the economy that encourages employment potential.

"There is a huge potential in the agriculture, rural sectors. There is a need for diversification of agriculture towards the energy and power sector, which will increase the value of agricultural produce and will benefit the farmers. If the farmers' purchasing power increases then our economy will grow," he added.

The minister urged students to do successful research which is economically viable.

"The country needs to concentrate on the rural agriculture economy by using the best successful practices and new innovative technology. We should give priority to rural, agriculture and policy. We should increase tourism, especially the forest area. We need forest-based industrial policies," he added.

The country will change if there are positive, development-oriented policies, he said. 

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