News & Analysis

WHAT I TOLD THE FM

Take Housing Boom To Rural India Ashwin Dani   The fiscal incentives given for the amount borrowed for housing purpose has resulted in a big boom in all medium and large size towns in the construction of residential premises. The next effort by the government should be to take this boom to the rural sector. The government should consider housing loans of up to Rs 50,000 at 3 per cent interest and between Rs 50,000-Rs 1,00,000 at 4 per cent interest. This would create a boom in employment in the rural sector and would also prevent the exodus of people to metropolitan cities like Mumbai and others. Second, management of water would be of tremendous importance in the betterment of life — urban or rural. The government shou-ld give incentives for conservation of water. Rainwater harvesting and drip irrigation should be encouraged. I am glad that the government is allocating bigger resource for education; but spending a higher amount alone is not enough — it has to be spent wisely. Seven-8 per cent gross domestic product growth is not enough to provide employment to everyone. Hence, we must globalise the standard of education for vocational courses offered in the country. Our ITI curriculum needs to be spruced up to meet the global job market’s needs. There have been no major investments in the chemical industry, particularly in the area of petrochemicals and fertilisers, in the last 10 years. We are not able to attract foreign direct investment in this sector. Our long-term fertiliser policy requires serious introspection — otherwise, we would be dependent on huge imports on both these sectors. — Vice-chairman & Managing Director, Asian Paints (India) Ltd

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