India will play an increasing role in the revival and restoration of international economies, said Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution. In the post-Covid world we are going to see a new world order, Shri Goyal said in his Inaugural Address to the CII Manufacturing Conclave 2022 today.

“We do have international geopolitical uncertainties as we see today on the Ukraine-Russia crisis, but I am very confident that India will play an increasingly important role in the revival and restoration of international economies in the years ahead. In the post-Covid world we are going to see a new world order and India, though we may be a $3 trillion economy today, we should aspire for very, very bold and aggressive targets. Personally I think we can still aim for the $5 trillion economy by 2026 but it’s not possible unless all of you participate with full gusto in this very, very ambitious plan,” said Shri Goyal in his address through video conferencing.

Shri Goyal called upon the Industry champions to invest heavily in Labour-intensive sectors.

“You have the power to lift the millions out of poverty, you have the power to give a better quality of life to the underprivileged. Together we can create not lakhs but crores of jobs in the Textiles sector, Plastics, Footwear, Auto components, Sports Goods, Agri/Food Processing, there are so many sectors where Labour is an important element of cost, that’s our competitive or comparative advantage that we should leverage,” he said.

Shri Goyal exuded confidence India’s exports will cross $650 Billion this current Financial Year.

“Every month in this year, from April till now so far till January, hopefully the next two (months) also, we would have created a record in the history of India’s exports. Every month is a record exports. Collectively, of course, it will be a historical achievement to cross $400 Billion in Merchandise exports, but then Services are also growing extremely fast; I had estimated Services to cross 225, then I reset it to 240, I have now reset my Services expectation to $250 Bn; within a year the target has undergone two revisions, that’s the strength of Services,” he said.

Shri Goyal said, “Looking at the growth on both sides, Services will catch up faster and by 2030 India should aspire for a Trillion dollars of Merchandise exports and a $1 Tn of Services exports.” He further added, “Services rests on the Manufacturing sector and therefore you have the power to take the country to prosperity.”

Shri Goyal said India should aim for a $5 trillion economy by 2026. COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of Global Supply Chains and has put ‘Aatmanirbharta’ at the centerstage, he added.

“We have outstanding FDI inflows coming into the country, today we are the second largest manufacturer of mobile handsets in the world, we are a large Auto manufacturer, amongst the largest in the world, we now need to replicate these successes in other areas, newer areas and become global champions,” said Shri Goyal. “Our startups are doing us proud, championing India's technology story. We have had 10 Unicorns within 53 days of 2022. They are not just 'Badams' but 'Badam ki barfi',” he added.

Shri Goyal said India needs to focus on our EDGE in Global Competition, - Economies of Scale, Demographic Dividend, Government and Industry focus on Quality & Efficiency. For ‘Brand India’ to emerge, we need a mindset change towards quality from Compliance to Consciousness, he said.

“However, in the post COVID-19 world, we acknowledge that we cannot be Masters of Everything! We need to identify focus areas following Michael Porter’s Theory of Competitive advantage & David Ricardo’s Theory of Comparative advantage,” said Shri Goyal.

The Minister encouraged the private sector to make use of the PM Gati Shakti NMP for multi-modal connectivity, with the aim of coordinated planning and execution of infrastructure projects to bring down logistics costs.

“Today we have a vibrant PM Gati Shakti with over 360 layers of data which speak to each other through APIs and, to my mind, it’s a revolutionary concept never attempted anywhere in the world todate,” he said.

Shri Goyal gave a 3-point Action Plan for all the Industry Associations:

• Encourage big companies to integrate MSMEs & ensure timely payments
• Support each other in domestic manufacturing
• Train young minds to get into manufacturing

Quoting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, - “India has the sanction of her own past glory and future vision to become strong in every sense of the term”, Shri Goyal said let us all come together to make India stronger in every sense, by taking bigger & bolder steps in this direction.

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DJN/AM/MS/PK