CII Global Economic Policy Summit 2022: "Global Competition Will Help India Innovate & Grow Fast": Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles, stated that for India to succeed in becoming a wealthy and developed country, it will be necessary to effectively compete on the world stage. He made the remark while speaking at the CII Global Economic Policy Summit 2022 in New Delhi on Friday.

In Amrit Kaal, Goyal said, steps being taken to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of making India a developed nation. He said that the pandemic made us more aware of our reliance on supply chains, particularly those that originate in unfriendly or opaque regions. It made us aware of several risk concerns in our trading system, our production, and India's technological deficiencies.

He added that if India wants to develop quickly, it will need to engage with the world economy much more. He remarked that in order to accomplish Atmanirbhar Bharat's mission, we must interact with the outside world more often, not less. We don't want to close our doors; instead, he continued, we want to open them wider to international competition because that's the only way the nation can innovate and develop. He used the automobile industry as an example, which experienced stagnation as a result of prolonged protectionism for domestic manufacturing.

Goyal stated that when planning for the next 25 years, we are looking at inclusive growth and democratized growth to ensure that no man or family is left behind. The sustainable development goals are not an objective for us to meet by 2030; rather, we want to do it far sooner, he added.

Production Linked Incentive Scheme

Goyal said the programme is intended to support the business where it is required in the initial years. Through this scheme, the government acts as a hand-holding support system, he noted.
According to him, PLI provides the impetus, but after that the industry must advance on its own initiative. The Minister stated that a group made up of all interested parties from the industry itself makes all decisions related to this programme.

He stated that they are developing other PLI scheme concepts, some of which are already in the works. As per Goyal, this is one programme that has gained traction, popularity, and good investments across the nation.

He said that the government is aggressively working to revive the textile and cotton industries, from farmers to exports - as the prime minister stated - from farms to fiber to textiles to fashion to foreign. Similar efforts are being made to encourage innovation and manufacturing through the National Technical Textile Mission, he added.

He told the audience that we have over 200 initiatives where government, industry, and academics are all working together. He further stated, "I invite you to develop other concepts in this field and we are happy to assist all research in this area."