Dubai businessman backs clean India drive
Odhrani donates Rs1m to Clean India project and plans to plant a million trees in Rajasthan
An Indian businessman in Dubai is setting an example by supporting various social causes back home.
Ashok L. Odhrani, founder and chairman of Supertech Group, last month donated Rs1 million (around Dh55,000) to the Indian government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission)
A Dubai resident for five decades, Odhrani presented the cheque for the cleanliness campaign launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vipul, Consul General of India in Dubai, during the 4th International Yoga Day celebrations in Dubai on June 21.
The donation will go to the Swachh Bharat Kosh (SBK) account set up to attract corporate social responsibility funds and contributions from individuals to achieve the objective of a clean India by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Vipul told Gulf News that this was the first donation to the SBK received by the mission. “I am happy that he has done it on this special day. I hope this will encourage others also to contribute for this cause,” he said.
Odhrani said that he chose to hand over the cheque at the mass yoga event to inspire others to follow his example.
His next mission is to plant a million trees in his home state of Rajasthan. Odhrani’s friend Mahesh Advani, founder and managing director of My Govinda’s restaurant group in Dubai, will support the project.
“We have made this commitment to Indian Assist, a group of Indian army ex-servicemen. When the veteran members of the group visited Dubai recently, we discussed ways to support our country and this was their suggestion,” Odhrani said.
Two-year project
The million-tree project will be carried out in phases over two years. “It may cost around Rs2 crores [Dh1 million] to complete the project,” he said.
Most of the trees will be planted along the banks of rivers in Rajasthan and on the route between Ajmer and Pushkar.
“I have already done the same thing at my hospital [Monilek Hospital and Research Centre] in Jaipur. I have planted trees along the road that leads to the hospital,” Odhrani, who is also a member of the Jebel Ali Hindu cremation ground, said.