Government will continue to take tough decisions: Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his government does not shy away from taking tough decisions in national interest.

“A country progresses through strong organisational and institutional capacities, which are the result of years of effort,” he said at the foundation stone laying for India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) in Dwarka.

Referring to the government’s recent decision on merging public sector banks, he said it was important to take decisions at the right time and implement them without delay. He said this had been thought over for nearly two and a half decades, but not implemented.


Earlier this week, the government announced amalgamation of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, aimed at creating the country’s third-largest bank as part of efforts to clean up the banking system.

The Prime Minister also said that the NDA government took tough decisions during last 50 months in the national interest and asserted that this trend will continue.

He mentioned a series of unprecedented projects for the nation’s development such as the longest tunnel, the longest gas pipeline, the largest mobile manufacturing unit, and electricity to every household among many others. He said these are illustrations of the skill, scale and speed of New India. “Despite challenges, the economy is on a firm footing,” he was quoted in an official release.

Modi said that with the construction of IICC, India is moving in the direction of developing eco-system of conference tourism in the country and is a part of the government’s vision to give importance to world class infrastructure, and ease of doing business. This convention centre is planned to be a mini city within Delhi with expo, meetings, markets, offices and recreation centres at a single place.

“The government is moving ahead with a target to make India a $5 trillion economy in next 7 years,” the government said in the release.

Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu said that the proposed exhibition centre, convention centre and multi-performance arena developments are estimated to generate over five lakh employment opportunities for the people.

This job creation will not be limited to core IICC facilities, but it will have a multiplier effect of direct and indirect spending and entail opportunities for regular formal employment in supporting IICC land uses like retail, office and hospitality.