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NRI business tycoons to give life of dying ghats of Ganges

To bring in the effort being made by PM Narendra Modi to rejuvenate the holy river Ganges and to revive the Ghats, Vedanta’s Anil Agarwal had taken the lead to bring to life the dying Ghats of the Ganges.

As part of the Indian government’s offer to UK businesses to maintain stretches of India’s longest river, Vedanta’s Anil Agarwal and Foresight Group’s Ravi Mehrotra have been brought into the picture to take care of Patna and Kanpur section respectively.

The Road and Transport minister also said that he has all hopes of rolling out a green replica of London’s iconic red double-decker buses in India. Continuing further, he said, “The Patna riverfront has been taken by Anil Agarwal. He has taken the responsibility. We have a plan but they can change the plan… and for 15 years they are responsible for maintenance and operation (sic),” Gadkari said at the Indian Journalists’ Association dinner.

“Ravi Mehrotra is ready to take Kanpur,” said Gadkari, who has the Ganga Rejuvenation portfolio. He said that the government is planning to plant 10 crores trees along the riverfronts. “And we are planning to clean the lakes, gardening, landscaping, and things that are important from the tourism point of view,” he said.

Gadkari said the idea was to give the responsibility of maintaining Ganga’s banks to corporates and industries — “the big people, those who are having an emotional attachment to Ganga (sic). This is the plan.

Agarwal grew up in Patna while Mehrotra was brought up in Kanpur. Nitin Gadkari is in London to attend the 30th Assembly of the International Maritime Organisation and drum up support among UK corporates for his Clean Ganga Mission, for which the Indian government has committed Rs 20,000 crore. “Pollution of water is a big problem in the Ganga,” he said.

“Many people from India, their faith, respect, and sentiments are related to the Ganga and I feel your cooperation is a big part,” he told NRI business leaders. “I really like London’s double-decker buses. We want to make them in India following the model and experience of the UK.” He added he was planning to “copy the London Underground system” on the metros in India too.

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