The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of an empowered group of secretaries (EGoS) and project development cells (PDCs) in Ministries and departments for attracting investments to India, said Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.
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Speaking at a press briefing after the meeting, Mr. Javadekar, referring to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, said: “We know the world’s situation. Industries are thinking to diversify their investments in different localities, so to ensure that investment is enhanced in India, an EGoS has been formed. And simultaneously in every Ministry, there will be a project development cell. This will make India a more investor-friendly destination and we will also hand-hold the new industries.”
$5 trillion economy
He added that the two decisions would help domestic industries and lead to direct and indirect employment.
The government said the decisions taken at the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would “reinforce India’s vision of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25”.
The PDCs would be responsible for coming up with projects with all approvals and identifying issues with regard to attracting investment that would be brought to the attention of the EGoS.
“In the midst of the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, India is presented with an opportunity to attract FDI inflows into the country, especially from large companies which seek to diversify their investments into new geographies and mitigate risks. Also, ramping up production across product lines will help to serve big markets in the U.S., the EU, China and elsewhere,” the statement read.
The EGoS would be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and would include the Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade as member convener and the NITI Aayog CEO, the Commerce Secretary, the Revenue Secretary and the Economic Affairs Secretary as members. The Secretary of the Department concerned would be co-opted, depending on the project.