The Union Minister for Steel, Birender Singh on Sunday said that by the end of the year, India would become the second biggest steel manufacturing country in the world. Presently, China leads in this sector followed by Japan and India.
The Union Minister, while interacting with mediapersons after inaugurating the newly constructed Ganga Ram Hospital in Rohtak said that China manufactured five times more steel than India. At present, about six lakh tonnes of steel is manufactured in old factories and private plants across the country. Steel industry accounts for just two per cent share in the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) of the country and efforts are being made to increase it, he added.
The Union Minister said that as a part of the agreement signed by the Union Ministry of Steel, a new steel manufacturing plant of one million tonne capacity would soon be set up as a joint venture. Steel manufactured at this plant would be exported, he said. In order to put a check on corruption and provide better opportunities to the talented youth, it is essential to bridge the education gap. The vision of better India can only be realised after bridging the gap between education facilities available in rural and urban areas, said he.
Referring to the Haryana Government, Birender Singh said that it had introduced new programmes and schemes which had started yielding positive results. The BJP Government has eliminated corruption in Haryana to a great extent. It recently declared merit-based result of the HCS examination which bears testimony to better and transparent policies pursued by the present State Government, he quipped.
Asked about the rift in the Congress party, the Union Minister said that the Congress had always suffered due to its political expediency. It should play the role of effective opposition by eschewing selfish politics, added he.