Kolkata: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday that India has the capability to become a global player in many sectors and needs to scale up its manufacturing activities.
Speaking at a webinar organised by EXIM Bank, he said sectors which have potentials to become globally competitive are required to be identified.
“There is no need to segregate between products for exports and domestic sector. We require quality, good technology and scale, though some support may be needed at times,” Goyal said.
Exports will definitely happen automatically if products are “good and competitively priced”, the minister said, adding that the industries should not expect that subsidies will be the “only solution”.
Speaking on the free trade agreements (FTAs), he said, “We have to foster such collaborations with the developed countries which have large markets, and not nations like Chile and Peru.”
India can surely be part of the global supply chain and also a reliable partner, Goyal said, adding that “building capabilities, scale and good manufacturing practices are the need of the hour”.
EXIM Bank Managing Director David Rasquinha said India’s manufacturing and export sectors have to become globally competitive.
“Despite the growing private consumption demand, India’s gross value added (GVA) has decreased. EXIM Bank has commissioned a study on the policy constraints faced by some sectors like textiles, apparel, automobile, electronics and pharmaceuticals,” he added.
‘Subsidies won’t help boost exports; need to focus on quality, scale to meet USD 1 trn goal’
New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said quality, technology and scale of production will help India take its annual exports to USD 1 trillion and not government subsidies.
He exhorted exporters and the industry as a whole to target USD 1 trillion worth of shipments.
“Why can’t we aim for USD 1 trillion exports from India. We certainly can. I see no reason, (why) we cannot. For that we need to be clear on actionable items (and) subsidies are never going to get us there, I am very very clear about that,” he said.
“At least in my six years of engagement, I have not found subsidies to be the solution for India’s problems. I think it’s quality, technology, growth, scale; and sometimes for a short period you may need to give a little thrust or support. But if they are looking at literally running a long term engagement with the world on subsidy, it is not going to work,” he said.
The minister was speaking at a webinar on strategies for alleviating policy constraints for exports in select sectors.
He said there is a need to identify areas where sensible policies can help take exports to USD 1 trillion.
