Bhubaneswar, April 1 (IANS) Stating that India has overtaken the US in steel production, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country has to compete with China which is far ahead.
“India has surpassed America in steel production. But, we are still behind China and when I talk about Make in India, we would not accept to stay behind any one. We have to increase our production,” said Modi after inaugurating the modernized and expanded steel unit of Rourkela Steel Plant at Rourkela in Odisha.
The Rs. 12,000-crore project has more than doubled the plant’s capacity to 4.5 million tonnes per annum from 2 mtpa.
The prime minister said India can grow with its youth power, which accounts for about 65 percent of the total population.
He said if the youth get employment and proper skill development, the country would prosper and move fast in the coming 10 years.
The prime minister said mineral resources should be properly utilized for development of the people and industries. He said trading of mineral resources to other countries may help the economy, but it would not build the future of India.
Stating that minerals should have value addition and generate employment, he said the whole world is now interested to invest in the country which was not the case in the last decade.
“We want to invite the world to invest in India and I can assure that they would get highest return compared to other parts of the world,” said Modi.