Rs 1 lakh crore allotted by the Government under the newly operationalised Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) should be utilised by the industry to foster innovation and create a research based ecosystem in the country and the youth should be tuned to the mindset of experimenting and developing new ideas. This was stated by Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal during his keynote address at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s (FICCI) 97th Annual General Meeting and Annual Convention in New Delhi today.

The Minister expressed hope that the Government initiative to help India develop R & D ecosystem will evince interest from the industry leaders, and urged the participants to provide suggestions in making the processes to get funds outcome oriented and time efficient. He also advocated bringing in private sector institutions to be part of the industry-academia-government partnership in fostering innovation and collaboration with the industry to meet the needs of the people and spur exports.

Shri Goyal also highlighted that initiatives under the PM Modi government such as Digital India, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – SAUBHAGYA, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), Ayushman Bharat and others like ‘beads in a necklace’ contributed to India’s rapid transformation.

Hailing PM’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) for continuing to shape the future of the nation, he highlighted that awareness for cleanliness is a revolution that was unleashed by the Prime Minister. Further, he complimented FICCI for organising an award category “Excellence in Swachh Industry Parks” to promote cleanliness at industrial parks across the country and noted that cleanliness is closely aligned to economic development, job creation and employment. He further stated that nationwide drive by FICCI for cleanliness by industries and corporate offices will be a very good Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. He also laid emphasis that adoption of toilets in schools and colleges by CSRs would have a huge positive impact on the children’s future enhancing the India growth story.

Shri Goyal urged the industry leaders to play a more proactive role and work closely with the Government in their agenda to reduce compliance burdens and decriminalise laws detrimental to businesses which will lead to improvement in Ease of Doing Business. FICCI has to be the feedback mechanism to help the Centre do its job better, the Minister said.

Speaking about the increasing importance of India globally, the Minister underscored that the nation has earned the trust of the world and its businesses are increasingly becoming part of global value chains. He continued that India has an important role to play for the Global South and is looked upon as the growth engine of the world under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Emphasising the need to raise quality standards in the country, the Minister urged FICCI to tap into its technical committees and appoint a representative from every industry to ensure standards are maintained. This way quality standards will be more practical, useful and will help India be recognised as a quality producer of goods and services. India will not only be a trusted partner but also a provider of quality goods. This will be a potent combination  defining our journey towards a Viksit Bharat, he said.

***

AD/GDH/CNAN/AM