Government trying to create five crore jobs in next 5 years: Gadkari

New Delhi: Union Road Transport and Highways and MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday that the government is trying to create five crore jobs in the next five years.

He said that the turnover of rural industries is Rs 80,000 crore, which is targeted to be Rs 5 lakh crore in the next five years. For this, work is going on in a planned way in agriculture and rural areas.

The Union Minister was speaking at the Agri-Food Processing Summit organised by the Agrovision Foundation through virtual medium. On this occasion, he said that the Central government's schemes will create employment opportunities in agriculture and food processing in the near future.

Referring to the bumper production of food grains in the country, Gadkari said that India has 280 lakh tonne of rice, which we can supply to the world markets. He said that a Rs 2 lakh crore economy in the agriculture sector will be made up of ethanol, out of which Rs 1 lakh crore will go into the pockets of farmers. The programme, organised through virtual medium, was attended by Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development, Panchayat Raj and Food Processing Industries Minister Narendra Singh Tomar as the chief guest.

Gadkari thanked Tomar for approving 37 mega food parks and starting 21 by the Ministry of Food Processing. Gadkari said that by 2030, India will become the 5th largest consumer country in the world, for which India's food processing sector is progressing.

He said expansion of this area is being planned. Kisan Rail has also become famous, due to which the Railways have got revenue of Rs 1 crore from Vidarbha alone. He suggested developing a special storage system for onions.