EXCLUSIVE: Anurag Thakur on Sourav Ganguly as BCCI chief, J&K and the state of economy

Anurag Thakur wears many hats. The Member of Parliament from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh not only is the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, but he has also held the hottest seat in Indian cricket – he served as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief between May 2016 and February 2017.

In an interview on the sidelines of the India Economic Conclave – North Chapter, he spoke to

timesnownews.com about the state of the economy, Jammu and Kashmir and his hopes from Sourav Ganguly as the BCCI chief.  

Excerpts from the interview:

Akrita Reyar: First things first - BCCI and Indian cricket are set to enter into a new era with Sourav Ganguly at the helm.  

Anurag Thakur: My best wishes to Sourav Ganguly and his team to revive Indian cricket. We have lost three precious years. We have lost a lot of money. We have lost our image, which India didn’t deserve. One must evaluate what happened in the last three years.

Akrita Reyar: Please tell us something about the sports academy that you have announced for Leh. 

Anurag Thakur: See, I have announced a cricket academy so that the cricketers in that region don't suffer. Earlier in Jammu and Kashmir, in the pre-abrogation of 370 & 35A era, the people of Leh and Ladakh were left behind. We are providing them with a cricket academy so that they can practice there, train there and participate in cricket tournaments. 

Akrita Reyar: The bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will come into effect on October 31. Any incentives that you are planning?

Anurag Thakur: Let October 31st come. You will see that a lot of people even without incentives will be willing to bring in more investment because they feel for Jammu and Kashmir. They want to give the state that which it was deprived of in the last seven decades. I am glad that every section of the society is willing to bring in more investment into Kashmir. Not just tourism but a variety of other sectors as well.

Akrita Reyar: But it looks like the summit that was planned for October had to be postponed. Was the private sector not too forthcoming? What has been their feedback?

 

Anurag Thakur: That only the private sector can tell you. I would not like to comment on their behalf.   

Akrita Reyar: As the MoS Finance, you must be concerned at the state of the economy?

Anurag Thakur: The fundamentals remain strong. We can withstand ups and downs. The recent incentives that have been announced will help revive the economy. Mark my words we will achieve the USD 5 trillion target by 2025. 

Akrita Reyar: About the PMC crisis, you just mentioned you are hoping RBI will resolve. What about other measures for the end-users like the faceless tax assessment? 

Anurag Thakur: That is one of the decisions taken to bring in more transparency and free people from harassment which they used to face. To bring in a faceless assessment system, we have launched the national e-assessment centre. We have already taken up 58,322 cases at the first go and e-notices have been issued. People have been deputed to make it a vibrant system and they will take care of the job for the next 24 months to make it a successful feature.