Overwhelming response to Namami Gange Roadshow in London 

Indian corporates, NRIs and PIOs in the UK have committed more than 5 billion dollars for the development of amenities like ghats, riverfronts, crematoria, and parks as part of the Namami Gange Mission. At a roadshow organized in London yesterday, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Road Transport & Highways and Shipping appealed to business leaders to participate in the mission to clean Ganga. The roadshow was organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Indian High Commission in the UK.

Among the important MoUs signed were those by Shri Anil Agarwal of Vedanta Group for ghats and amenities along Ganga at Patna; Shri Ravi Mehrotra of Foresight Group for Kanpur; Hinduja Group for Haridwar; Shri Prakash Lohia of Indo Rama Group for Kolkata. 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. Apart from these, many companies and individuals have agreed to take on projects from the list of over 200 projects for which private funding has been sought.

There are projects worth more than Rs.10,000 crore for development of ghats, crematoria, water bodies, parks, sanitation facilities, public amenities and riverfront which need additional funding. Projects worth over Rs 2500 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. The Government is appealing to the business community to participate in the Namami Gange Mission to clean the river by funding projects of their choice.