Mumbai: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday accused the Indian Navy of “holding up developmental projects” in the state.
Mr Gadkari’s accusations comes after the Indian Navy refused to permit the launch of seaplane services in Mumbai on grounds of security.
This doesn’t seem to go down well with the minister who in turn, while addressing a meeting he was called in to lay the foundation stone for an international Miami-style cruise terminal in Mumbai, he said, “We are the government. The Navy and the defense ministry are not the government”.
The meeting was also attended by senior navy officials which included Western Command Chief Vice Admiral Girish Luthra. The Bombay High Court has also maintained Navy’s decision which has irked the Minister.
He said the Navy “came to me seeking a plot of land… I will not give them even an inch of land, please don’t come again… Everyone wants to build quarters and flats on south Mumbai’s prime land. We do respect you (Navy), but you should go to the Pakistan border and do patrolling.”
He added only a few important, senior officials should live on Mumbai’s south prime land.
Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled the government’s plans for the project and took a ride on a seaplane from Sabarmati river.
Union Minister on Thursday said in his statement that government plans to operate nearly 10,000 seaplanes in the coming years, NDTV reported.