Aurangabad, Jan 16:
State tourism minister Aditya Thackeray and industries minister Subhash Desai, interacted with entrepreneurs and tourism fraternity on various development issues in the development dialogue programme here on Saturday. However, the entrepreneurs expressed disappointment stating that the issues that were prevailing twenty-five ago are still being discussed.
Experts in the fields of industries, town planning, construction and tourism raised issues related to development with Desai and Thackeray. Entrepreneur Ulhas Gawli said that unfortunately, the same issues were discussed during the Shiv Sena chief after the coalition government came to power in 1995. Chairman CII Marathwada Zonal Council Mukund Kulkarni said there are 40 IT industries in the city. It has three and a half thousand jobs. The city has an industrial atmosphere. The cost of operation is low. Therefore, after Mumbai and Pune, investing here is easy. Compared to the state, Aurangabad has a growth rate of 28 per cent. In this comparison, the grant will have to be provided. Strategic thinking has to be done. Vendors here should get work. The IT sector needs to be boosted to create jobs. Rishi Bagla focused on the increasing airport and railway connectivity. Entrepreneurs Ram Bhogle, Jaswant Singh, Pramod Khairnar and others expressed their views. MLC Ambadas Danve anchored the programme.
Phase wise master plan
After hearing the views, Thackeray said, "It is necessary to prepare a phase-wise master plan for the city. Now a working group should be formed with citizens from various organizations. We will meet again at the end of January to discuss what needs to be done for tourism, environment and urban development."