Centre working to reduce logistics cost to GDP to 7.5% in 5 years: Amit Shah
New Delhi (PTI): The government is working to bring down logistics cost to GDP to 7.5 per cent from the current 13 per cent, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Tuesday.
Addressing the annual session of Assocham, Shah said, without the development of the country's infrastructure and reduction of logistics costs, development was not possible.
The logistics cost in India is 13 per cent to the GDP as compared eight per cent in the rest of the world, making it difficult for Indian exports to compete globally, he said.
"We will have to remove the eight per cent and 13 per cent gap. We have formulated a framework for the next five years. I can assure you that we will reach 7.5 per cent logistics cost in the next five years," he said.
Shah said the Narendra Modi government has made a plan of Rs 100 lakh crore investment in infrastructure with some mega projects such as the doubling of railway lines, their widening, dedicated freight corridors from Mumbai to Delhi and Amritsar to Kolkata besides 11 other industrial corridors.
Citing other achievements in the infrastructure sector through major schemes, Shah said the government has set a target to bring down logistics costs below the national average by 2028 to make exports globally competitive.
The minister expressed confidence that the Modi government has laid a strong foundation for making India a developed nation by 2047 and a USD 5 trillion economy by 2022.
Taking a dig at former Union finance minister P Chidambaram, Shah said when Modi was giving details of the Digital India scheme, the Congress leader questioned how will small amounts be paid to a street vendor, whether villages will have electricity and broadband to enable those transactions.
He said, now, UPI is being used by almost every business.
"UPI contributed 52 per cent of the 8,840 crore digital transactions in 2022 which comes to Rs 1.26 lakh crore," he said.
Shah also credited Modi for giving a humane face to drab GDP numbers through social schemes which is a first in the world.
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Gas tragedy waste disposal: Police register five cases against protestors opposing incineration
Dhar (MP) (PTI): Madhya Pradesh police have registered five cases against protesters in Pithampur of Dhar district who opposed the planned disposal of 337 tonnes of toxic waste linked to the Bhopal gas tragedy in their town, an official said on Saturday.
Protests rocked Pithampur, around 50 km from the district headquarters, on Friday after toxic waste reached Ramky Enviro company, where the incineration is to be carried out.
The protests prompted the authorities to impose prohibitory orders under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) banning the assembly of five or more persons around Ramky Enviro.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Kumar Singh said five separate cases were registered on Friday night in connection with the protests for disrupting public peace.
He said in some cases, people were named, while in others, first information reports (FIRs) were registered against unidentified persons.
Singh said normalcy prevailed in Pithampur town on Saturday morning, and all industrial establishments were functioning.
According to police, cases were registered at Pithampur Sector-1 police station under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) sections 283 (the exhibition of false lights, marks, or buoys with the intent to mislead navigators), 341 (possession of counterfeit any seal, plate or other instruments with intent of forgery), 149 (collection of men, arms, or ammunition with the intention of waging war against the Government of India), 147 (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India), 285 (causing danger, obstruction or injury to any person in any public way), 126 (2) (intentional obstruction of a person's movement), 190 (unlawful assembly) and 191 (rioting).
During the protests on Friday, a mob of 500-600 people marched to Ramky Group's Industrial Waste Management Private Limited premises, but the police dispersed them in time.
Two persons attempted self-immolation during demonstrations in several parts of the town amid a bandh call given by Pithampur Bachao Samiti. However, the quick response of the crowd prevented a tragedy, and the men were admitted to a local hospital.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav chaired a high-level meeting on Friday night to review the situation and decided to apprise the courts about the latest position on the issue and not proceed until further court orders in the matter.
He said the state government only transported the Union Carbide waste with safety parameters in compliance with the Supreme Court's instructions and the High Court's order.
The court had given a deadline for the waste to reach the designated place before January 4, he added.
Yadav took cognisance of the prevailing situation and said if any threat or sense of fear arises among the public about security, then the state government will try to present this subject before the court, and action will be taken only after this.
