New VED president outlines growth plans

Nagpur: Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED) will identify projects on the basis of inherent strength of the region like minerals, metals, textiles, logistics and tourism and also focus on service sector for prosperity, said Shivkumar Rao, the new president of the organization.
Speaking at the executive committee meeting after taking over as VED president, Rao said he would do his best to discharge his duty in the interests of the society and contribute to development of his ‘karmabhoomi’. He also appreciated the work done by former president Devendra Parekh in achieving various goals.
Outlining his plans for the region, Rao said efforts will be made to capitalize on the resource-rich Vidarbha and take forward the programmes undertaken by VED to spur development. He underlined the need for focusing on the service sector also as it could be a big driver in MSME segment. He spoke about major events planned, especially in mining and MSME sectors.
The new VED team includes Pradeep Maheshwari, Dr DG Garway and Pankaj Mahajan (vice-presidents); Rahul Upganlawar (secretary general; Navin Malewar (treasurer); Atul Tajpuriya, Varun Vijaywargi and Dinesh Naidu (joint secretaries) and Devendra Parekh (past-president).
The team is passionate about economic development of Vidarbha and feels that it has immense potential to develop. For this to achieve, sustained efforts are needed to enhance per capita income and GDP of the region. Employment generation is another area which is needed to be taken care of, the team believes.
Rao was appreciative of the role of VED founder president Govind Daga and his successor Vilas Kale and said brainchild of the organization Mihan would be the main growth engine of the region. He also said the silver jubilee of VED will be celebrated sometime this year.