Vajpayee with Thackeray after unveiling the statue of Shivaji in Mumbai on Friday. (PTI)

Mumbai, Jan. 16: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today handed a Rs 500-crore gift to Dharavi, Asia’s biggest slum, keeping up his government’s sop-a-day routine.

Dharavi is no more just a slum but a business hub chock-a-block with small-scale units, the Prime Minister said, as he announced the aid for its industrial development.

Vajpayee made the announcement after unveiling a statue of Shivaji at the international airport here. He took the opportunity to hit out at the violent protests against James Laine’s controversial book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India and the government’s decision to ban it.

“If you are unhappy with certain sections in a book, sit down and talk about it,’’ the Prime Minister said. “Banning it and destroying it is not the answer. This is not how things should be.”

Ally Bal Thackeray, whose party has supported the ban, tried to blunt the criticism by pointing out that the Prime Minister had fulfilled the Shiv Sena’s 14-year-old dream of a Shivaji statue at the airport.

In keeping with the season of sops, civil aviation minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the government was mulling over a proposal to make a further concession on air travel.

Vajpayee, however, did not grant the Rs 2,000 crore demanded by ally Thackeray for drought relief. He did promise to look into the matter, though.

The Prime Minister flagged off the Deccan Odyssey, arguably one of the world’s most luxurious trains. Designed to compete with the Blue Train of South Africa and the Orient Express of Europe, the Deccan Odyssey, which is mainly looking at NRI and foreign travellers, will charge approximately $450 for a seven-day trip through Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Tarkarli, Sawantwadi, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik and Goa.

Using a smattering of Marathi, he urged Indians to get rid of their “casual and complacent attitude”. Harping on the often repeated “feel-good factor’’, Vajpayee said: “There is speed and development everywhere. We should not let the opportunity slip by.”