Ravi Shankar Prasad withdraws ‘Rs 120 crore a day’ comment over economy

Ravi Shankar Prasad

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad (Photo: Facebook)


After making a bizzare statement on the economic slowdown in the country yesterday, the Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad withdrew his statement on Sunday. He clarified that he made the comment in Mumbai, which is the film capital of India and provides employment to lakhs of people and contributes significantly by way of taxes.

Prasad on Saturday in Mumbai said that the Indian economy is doing well as three Bollywood movies in a single day managed to do business of Rs 120 crore. He was under fire right after the statement.

“I was Information and Broadcasting minister in former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government and I am fond of movies. Movies have been doing huge business. Three movies were released on October 2 and film critic Komal Nahta told me that the national holiday saw them earning Rs 120 crore. Rs 120 crore comes in a country, which has a sound economy,” Prasad said on Saturday while addressing a press conference in Mumbai.

Minister made a series of tweets in defense of his statement.

Congress called the Minister’s remarks as ill-informed and insensitive. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took it to Twitter and said China has a different parameter for its economy.

In a recent report, the World Bank has also projected a slowdown in the Indian economy.