An interactive session with Shri Ajay Maken, Hon'ble Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

EBG organized an interactive session with Shri Ajay Maken, Hon'ble Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation- A man of Deeds, not merely words! We had amongst us, a resplendent example of youthful energy in tandem with diverse experience, Shri Ajay Maken has held responsibilities and performed at almost all levels of government and the Congress party, with an impeccable track record of integrity and efficiency. Mr. Rajiv Dhawan, Delhi Chapter Chairman, gave the welcome address. H.E Mr. João Cravinho, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to India, gave the opening remarks. The EU Ambassador applauded EBG of its work and mentioned that today's meeting was a further example of excellent work by EBG in its effort to open discussions with the decision makers. The Ambassador spoke about the recently launched EBG Position Paper which has incentives and ideas on how the EU and India can work together. He further mentioned that in the 12th Five Year Plan states that 600 million Indians will reside in cities, hence there is greater need to combat poverty and fulfill the basic requirements of mankind. Smart cities are engines of growth and will attract investment to the country. PPP is the key for implementation of any successful project. The Ambassador mentioned that EU is already working on co-operation projects with India and is happy to continue its cooperation with India. Following the opening remarks by the Ambassador, Mr Dhawan invited Shri Ajay Maken to address the EBG members on the topic: Challenges of Urbanisation. Shri Maken's address was brief and clear. He started with the three parameters of how a city qualifies as an urban city. He mentioned that urbanization will have a huge impact on the economic growth in the coming years. He went on to outline the three major challenges of urbanization, namely Governance; Disparity in urban areas- disparity between rich and poor and shortage of affordable houses. He outlined the fact that private players have a key role to play in field of urbanization. It will also provide tremendous impetus to European companies in the field of quality economic housing , urban infrastructure , sanitation , health and pollution and waste management. Shri Maken's address was followed by a very interactive Q&A session. Mr. Vinod Verma, EBG India Chairman gave the vote of thanks. Mr Verma also presented Shri Ajay Maken with the recently launched EBG Position Paper; with a request that issues outlined under could be discussed at any time convenient to him. The Minister showed interest saying that he had gone through the soft copy sent to him, was looking forward to get the book and informed some of the issues which were already receiving the attention of his Ministry. Mr. Verma thanked H.E Mr. João Cravinho for always supporting EBG in its activities. Mr. Verma also thanked Mr. Gaurav Karnik, Partner- Infrastructure, Industrial & Consumer, E&Y for moderating the Q&A session. A special thank you was recorded for Mr. Yogesh Sachdeva and Mr. Rajiv Dhawan without whose efforts this meeting would not have taken place. The event was attended by representatives from major European companies, consultants and EU memberstate Embassies. Ambassadors and senior officials from the EU Member states. Please click on the link to view the event photographs: Shri Ajay Maken, Hon'ble Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation addressed the EBG members