Mumbai, March 9 (IANS) The Union Culture and Tourism Minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, attended the ongoing edition of the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) in Jaipur along with Diya Kumari, one of the Deputy Chief Ministers of Rajasthan.
The two spoke about India and Rajasthan’s growing prowess on different planes.
The Union Minister spoke with the media at the green carpet, and shared that India will emerge as the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) capital of the world.
He told the media, “After 2014, India has shown a tremendous growth curve in infrastructure given the boom in infrastructure, be it the construction of roads over 1,50,000 km, new railway stations, semi high-speed trains, inland waterways and more than 150 operational airports.”
He further mentioned, “All of these have contributed to India’s prowess with regards to the MICE events (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions). The confidence also built following India’s hosting of G20 nations, the entire world is looking at India in awe and curiosity. In times to come, India will emerge as the MICE capital of the world.”
Deputy CM Diya Kumari pointed out how tourism can be the game changer in Rajasthan’s economy.
She said, “Celebrities and filmmakers have created short clips talking about the Rajasthan tourism. We will upload these clips on our social media, and this will give a boost to the tourism by inspiring filmmakers to come and shoot in Rajasthan. This will in turn help the state financially. Currently, tourism contributes 12 per cent to the economy of Rajasthan, we aim to take these numbers as high as 25 to 50 per cent.”
IIFA ceremony is set to be held on Sunday in Jaipur.
The latest edition, which celebrate the milestone 25 years of the prestigious film awards, will see scores of celebrities, content-creators and global media coming together to celebrate Hindi cinema.
–IANS
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