Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today addressed a post-budget webinar organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). This is the eighth post-budget webinar addressed by the PM. The theme of the webinar was ‘Make in India for the World’.
The PM said that the budget has many significant provisions for Aatmnirbhar Bharat and Make in India. It is not acceptable that a country like India ends up merely as a market. He pointed towards supply chain disruptions during the pandemic and other uncertainties to underline the critical importance of Make in India. On the other hand, positive factors like demographic dividend of young and talented population, democratic setup, natural resources should also encourage us to move towards Make in India with determination, he added. Also, the PM referred to his call for ‘zero defect-zero effect manufacturing’ that he gave for the ramparts of Red Fort. Aatmnirbharta is all the more important if we see from the prism of national security, he highlighted.
The PM said that the world is looking at India as a manufacturing powerhouse. Manufacturing is 15 per cent of India’s GDP, but there are infinite possibilities before Make in India and we should work with full strength to create a robust manufacturing base in India, he added.
During his address, he cited examples of new demand and opportunities in sectors like semiconductors and electric vehicles where manufacturers should move with a sense of removing dependencies on foreign sources. Similarly, areas like steel and medical equipment need to be focussed on indigenous manufacturing, he said.
The PM stressed the difference between the availability of a product as opposed to the availability of made in India products in the market. He reiterated his dismay that many of the supplies for India’s various festivals are seeking foreign providers whereas they have been and can be easily provided by local manufacturers. He also emphasised that the ambit of ‘Vocal for Local’ goes well beyond buying ‘diyas’ on Diwali and asked the private sector to push the factors of vocal for local and Aatmnirbhar Bharat in their marketing and branding efforts. “Take pride in the products your company makes and instil this sense of pride in your Indian customers as well. For this some common branding can also be considered”, the PM said.
Further, he highlighted the need to find new destinations for the local products and exhorted the private sector to enhance spending on R&D and to diversify and upgrade their product portfolio. He mentioned new possibilities due to the opening up of areas like mining, coal and defence and asked the participants to prepare a new strategy. “You will have to maintain global standards and you will also have to compete globally”, he pointed out.
This budget has given significant importance to MSME through credit facilitation and technology up-gradation. The government has also announced a RAMP programme of Rs 6,000 crore for MSMEs. The budget has also focused on developing new railway logistics products for farmers, large industries and MSMEs. The integration of postal and railway networks will solve the problems of connectivity in small enterprises and remote areas. He said that the regional manufacturing ecosystem can be strengthened by using the model of PM DevINE which has been announced for the North-East Region. Similarly, reforms in Special Economic Zone Act will provide a boost for the exports.
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He also mentioned that in PLI for large scale electronics manufacturing, the target of Rs 1 lakh crore worth of production was achieved in December 2021. Many other PLI schemes are in the important stages of implementation.
He mentioned the removal of 25,000 compliances and auto-renewal of licences that have led to a significant reduction in the compliance burden. Similarly, digitisation has brought speed and transparency to the regulatory framework.
The PM called upon the captains of manufacturing to pick up some areas and work to remove foreign dependence in that. He reiterated that such webinars are unprecedented governance steps to include stakeholder voices in the policy implementation and developing a collaborative approach for proper, timely and seamless implementation of the budget provisions for better outcomes.
(With inputs from PIB)