Telephone users will be 500mn by 2010: Maran

Chennai, Nov 5 (UNI) Union Minister for Communications and IT Mr Dayanidhi Maran today said the government was making all-out efforts to raise the number of telephone users in the country to touch at least 500 million by 2010.

Delivering his special address at the concluding session of two- day national conference on 'Managing Corporate Growth' organised by the Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM) Tiruchirapalli, here, Mr Maran said ''when we achieve the target, 48 per cent of people will get connectivity'' The number of telephone users would be 250 million by 2007, he said.

He said former Union Commerce Minister and his father Late Murasoli Maran who brought number of foreign investments including Hyundai Car Manufacturing Unit to Tamil Nadu, was very particular in establishing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Nanguneri in South Tamil Nadu.

After his demise, the previous AIADMK Government did not bother about the SEZ and kept the prestigious scheme in abeyance. However, the DMK Government reopened the scheme, and facilitated preliminary works for establishing a SEZ there, he added.

He said, Indians were born as entrepreneurs and wanted that ever one should become entrepreneurs; instead of wasting their time and energy for other jobs.

He said ''though we have all kinds of skill but we are slightly weak in the administrative aspect''. He called upon the management educational institutions like BIM to develop the administrative skill among youngsters, to enable them to compete globally.

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