Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal tells Indian industries to depend less on govt subsidies and grants
Piyush Goyal also urged state governments, export promotion councils and industrial bodies to make efforts to engage with the world from a position of strength.
Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Railways, urged representatives of industry, trade and exports bodies to reduce dependency on subsidies and grants from the Central Government and strive to make industry and production more competitive and self-reliant, said a government press release.
Goyal made the statement while addressing a joint meeting of the Board of Trade and the Council of Trade Development and Promotion, organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in New Delhi today.
The commerce minister said that when subsidies have been done away with, businesses grew. In this context, he cited the example of LED bulbs which have become affordable due to higher production. He explained that when production takes place on a large scale, domestic manufacturing and business grows. This leads to import substitution and also improves the quality of products.
The meeting was attended by ministers and officials from Civil Aviation ministry, Housing and Urban Affairs ministry, Commerce and Industry ministry, NITI Aayog, departments of Commerce, Revenue, Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Civil Aviation, Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Agriculture, Information Technology, Textiles, MSME and other Ministries of Government of India.
Piyush Goyal also urged state governments, export promotion councils and industrial bodies to make efforts to engage with the world from a position of strength.
He said, “India and the world are now going through challenging times due to trade barriers and falling economic growth. Therefore, there is greater need for focussed efforts to maintain our position and grow in world trade. This forum provides an opportunity to work with synergy among all stakeholders so that improvements can be made in the framework, monitoring process for internal trade, industrial growth and exports.”
Goyal took over from Suresh Prabhu to become the Minister of Commerce and Industry in Modi’s new Cabinet on May 31. He also holds the office of Ministry of Railways since 2017. Goyal first made his mark in the BJP as a treasurer and held portfolios in coal, power, railways, and finance.
Goyal was also provided with the finance portfolio in May 2018, which he held till August, while Arun Jaitley was recuperating from a kidney transplant. He presented the interim Budget in the Parliament in January 2019.
(Source: PIB)
