A renewed focus on exports and preference of domestic consumers for locally made goods can help India become a global manufacturing powerhouse, said Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textile on Tuesday.
Highlighting the role for the sector in driving economic growth, he urged stakeholders to support India’s manufacturing industry, adding that this will help the country achieve 16 times the current growth.
It is then that the manufacturing sector will be able to support 25% of the GDP of the $30 trillion economy in 2047, the minister said while speaking at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) Viksit Bharat@2027 Conclave.
In the mission to make India a $30 trillion economy by 2047, Goyal said that the government is playing the role of an enabler in ease of doing business, focusing on ease of justice, ease of logistics, ease of living, and ease of innovation. All these, he said, are helping to create an elusive ecosystem to help the country grow and progress.
Speaking about infrastructural growth and spending, Goyal said that the central government is investing Rs 11,11,000 crores for Capital Expenditure. Besides this, state governments and private sectors are also investing in infrastructure and supporting the increasing demand of goods and services.
“A renewed focus on exports is required and can help us in terms of our competitiveness with larger economies of state, help improve our quality of our produce and services, and of course it will have a huge impact on India’s macroeconomy which already is double the foreign exchange reserves which we inherited in 2014,” Goyal said. He added that this is “after paying back all those expensive borrowings of $34 billion that was made in August- September 2013…” He said that the country has exceeded around 2.5 times in terms of forex reserves as compared to what the Modi government had inherited in 2014.He said that the reason for this increased foreign investment is the 3D effect, that includes democracy, demography, and demand that India offers. In addition to this, the increased export earnings are also helping in strengthening the economy. Goyal also said that by 2027, India is estimated to be the third largest economy in the world. “To encourage domestic manufacturing, clearly the young aspirational India is a big demand aggregator and poster,” he added. He stated that when the country’s nominal growth is measured in terms of US dollars, the GDP growth is 9.5%-10%.
Other significant enabling factors that Goyal mentioned included basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, education, digital connectivity, water, connectivity of infrastructure.
“Moving people out of multidimensional poverty, 250 million people have already in the last 10 years come out of poverty, and with the increasing disposable incomes that families have, undoubtedly, we can see India being at the forefront of global growth and that cannot happen,” Goyal said.
Goyal called for everyone’s participation in the mission. He asked people to be ‘vocal for local’, support each other, engage with domestic industry as a part of the value chain, wed in India, travel in India. He asked corporates to look at One District One Product (ODOP) for gifting purposes to help increase opportunities for artisans and weavers.
Inspired by the Prime Minister’s idea, Goyal asked management to go back to their grassroot level villages and towns and contribute and help those who have not yet got opportunities and are left behind. He also made a call for action to chartered accountants to teach, mentor and support one CA from their villages and towns.
