Highlighting the world-class infrastructure and availability of skilled manpower in Nagpur, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said that the city will soon emerge IT hub. Addressing the ‘IT Conclave 2023’ organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at IIM-Mihan, Gadkari said industry friendly atmosphere, world class infrastructure and air, rail and road connectivity are key factors to attract IT companies. Gadkari further added that there is a need to harness Nagpur’s potential to make it a leading IT hub in the country. CII Vidarbha organised the conclave on the theme ‘Nagpur:

 

The next frontier city for IT’ wherein Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis; Dr Kishore Malviya, Chairman, CII Vidarbha Zonal Council and Director, SMS Envocare Ltd; Shailesh Awale, Vice Chairman, CII Vidarbha Zonal Council and Director and Center Head, Nagpur HCLTech; Rajesh Kapoor, Regional Director, CII Western Region; Dr Nandakumar K, Chairman, CII Maharashtra State Council and Chairman and Managing Director, Chemtrols Industries; Dr Bhimaraya Metri, Director, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Nagpur; Hakimuddin Ali, Member of Executive Board and Managing Director, Dalmia Cements (Bharat) Ltd; Tarang Puranik, Senior Vice President, Infosys, Ashank Desai, Chairman, Mastek were also present. Gadkari further said that the efforts were being made to improve transportation system and lower the traffic problems. For this, he is planning to build an eight lane road network and six lane bridge from Khapri to Butibori. He announced that the Government will be soon starting e-taxis in MIHAN for better connectivity with proposed extension of MIHAN.

 

Apart from this, there are plans to provide a skybus service with capacity of 250 people per bus, and six lane underground tunnel so that workers can commute from the city to their place of work. Gadkari highlighted that the work of the new international airport with two runways to take on an increase in cargo capacity will start within two to three months. “The city already has a standard of living that’s unparalleled in India,” he added. In his address, Devendra Fadnavis said, “Nagpur is not just the Orange or Tiger Capital but it has become the ‘Education Capital of India’ too, with a tag line of ‘Affordable Global City’. Fadnavis said Maharashtra has the best ecosystem and it is the home to 16,000 startups registered with DPIIT and 25 unicorns. Dr Kishore Malviya proposed the vote of thanks.