Indian corporates, NRIs commit $5 bn for development of ghats, parks along Ganga

New Delhi, Nov 30 Indian corporates in the UK have committed over USD 5 billion for development projects under Namami Gange Mission, the government said today.
At a roadshow organised in London yesterday, Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari appealed to business leaders to participate in the mission to clean Ganga. The roadshow was organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Indian High Commission in the UK.
“Indian corporates, NRIs and PIOs in UK have committed more than USD 5 billion for the development of amenities like ghats, river fronts, crematoria and parks as part of the Namami Gange Mission,” Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a statement today.
Among the important MoUs (memorandum of understanding) signed were those by Anil Agarwal of Vedanta Group for ghats and amenities along Ganga at Patna, Ravi Mehrotra of Foresight Group for Kanpur, Hinduja Group for Haridwar, Prakash Lohia of Indo Rama Group for Kolkata, the statement said.
The projects will be developed, built and operated by these corporates under their CSR initiatives.
“MoUs were also signed for innovative technologies for river cleaning, with companies including Lyndon Water, Celtic Renewables, Medifarm, NVH Technologies and Arkatap,” the statement said.
Apart from these, many companies and individuals have agreed to take on projects from the list of over 200 plans for which private funding has been sought.
There are projects worth more than Rs 10,000 crore for development of ghats, crematoria, waterbodies, parks, sanitation facilities, public amenities and river front which need additional funding, the statement said.
Projects worth over Rs 2,500 crore, available for private funding have been published as a booklet and are also available on the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) website as an e- booklet, it added.
–IANS