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DAM-L US: expatriate Indians propose fundraising for Sardar Sarovar Project
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Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 18:36:31 -0800 (PST)
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subject: LS: NRIs in US propose to raise SSP funds
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(NRIs = Non-Resident Indians)
The Times of India, Ahmedabad, December 19, 2000
NRIs in US propose to raise
funds for Narmada dam
AHMEDABAD: With the Gujarat government squeezed
for funds to complete the Sardar Sarovar Project and
the World Bank not too favourable either, the NRIs
living in the US have proposed a strategy for acquiring
funds for the dam from Europe, provided the state is
able to "market it well", says Asian Americans and the
Pacific Islanders commissioner Mike Patel.
Patel is visiting the country with three things on agenda:
to help make things easy for Indians wanting to emigrate
to other countries, work on the 'sister university'
proposal to link University of Georgia, Atlanta with
Sardar Patel University at Vallabh Vidyanagar, and to
discuss "alternate funding" for development projects.
The third issue focuses on the Narmada project which
Patel believes has suffered because of bad marketing
and "the casual attitude" of Indians.
"We're too relaxed. Everyone is confused about who will
carry the ball, which is why the anti-Narmada sentiment
spread faster abroad," Patel told TOI in an exclusive
interview on Sunday. He earlier addressed a press
conference by the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj.
According to him, the government needed to "empower"
the NRIs and take decisions quickly. Patel, who had
negotiated the World Bank aid for road projects in
Gujarat, also feels that if not the WB, other avenues of
funding could be arranged for if the Gujarat government
was able to politically influence and market the project
abroad through the media. He believes that with 60 per
cent of NRIs being Gujarati, they could make a
difference with political support. "Indians are the new
Jews in America, and with their talent, wealth and brains,
they could move things," Patel said referring to the US
presidential elections.
Asked if Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel's visits to the
US seeking NRI support had been useful, Patel said,
"He would do better if he came with some peace of
mind, without being entrenched in what's going on here.
He should look at the big picture."
The plan for funding the Narmada project right now is
"for the Gujarat government to escrow some money in
Swiss banks and get loans on low interest rates," says
Patel who has already met Keshubhai Patel over this.
Here, the NRIs support would come in the form of
deposit money to the Swiss banks, on the basis of which
loans could be secured. "Even donations would work,
except that nobody likes the word donations," he quips.
The other propositions that are being worked on are
setting up a chamber of commerce in the US as an
extension of the GCCI, get pure drinking water to
Gujarat, and develop a tourism package for NRIs from
Gujarat. But Patel laments that not much has moved
since the proposals.
He said Indians have contributed in a big way to the
growth of US economy, and "they have now begun to
get into grassroots politics which is how they influence
elections." "A lot of NRIs are with Wall Street, 45 per
cent are in the hotel business, and the rest are either
doctors or in hi-tech industry," he adds.
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