PM Modi addresses 95th annual plenary of Indian Chamber of Commerce: Key points

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday delivering the inaugural address at the annual plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) congratulated the organisation for its 95 years of service. Delivering the address via video conferencing the PM said that the current coronavirus crisis puts India's self-reliant ambitions on a fast track.
Here are the key points:
* This is the time to recognize opportunity, to try oneself and to move towards new heights. If this is the biggest crisis, then we should take full advantage of it, while learning the biggest lessons. I assure you that the government stands with you. And for a self-reliant India, the sense of self-reliance in an Indian is of utmost importance.
* Sometimes time also tests us. Sometimes many difficulties come at us at the same time. But we have also experienced that gratitude in such a crisis guarantees a bright future.
* But in the midst of all this, every countryman is now also filled with the resolve that this disaster is to be converted into an opportunity, we have to make it a big turning point of the country. What is this turning point?
* Self Reliant India. This sense of self-reliance has been every Indian's aspiration. This has been our big wish.
* The simplest method to be worked upon at present is to induce Indians to use their own produce and get markets for Indian artware in other countries. This path shown to us Swami Vivekanand is going to be India's inspiration in the post-Covid world.
* Everything that India has to import, how to manufacture it in India; how to make India an exporter of those products, we will have to work in this direction at a past pace.
* To increase solar manufacturing in the country and to increase power storage capacity, we need better batteries and for that we need investments in R&D and manufacturing. Those organisations and MSMEs who are working on it, they need hand-holding and we should assist them.
* Another campaign is going on in India - to free the country from single-use plastic. This issue addresses all three: People, Planet and Profit. This is especially beneficial for West Bengal as it will help boost jute industries in the state.
* Today, countrymen are able to save about Rs 19,000 crore in electricity bills annually due to LEDs. Thess savings benefit the poor and the middle class.
* The cluster based approach for Local Products which is now being promoted in India is also an opportunity for everyone. Clusters associated with these will be developed in the districts, blocks in which they are born. Along with this, clusters will also be made for bamboo and organic products. The entire North East, like Sikkim, can become a huge HUB for organic farming. This can become organic capital.
* You all have been working in North East and the Eastern India for so many decades. All the steps that the government has taken will be of great benefit to the people of East and North East. I think Kolkata itself can become a very big leader again.
* Now the scope of banking service in the country has also reached those people, who were categorised as "Have nots" for a long time. Through DBT, JAM i.e. Jandhan Aadhaar Mobile, it has been possible to extend the necessary support to millions of beneficiiciaries without leakage.
* Since its formation in 1925, the ICC has witnessed the fight for independence, witnessed severe famines and food crises and has also been a part of India's Growth Trajectory. Now this AGM is happening at a time when our country is facing multiple challenges.
* Last five-six years have been a big reason...India's goal of self-reliance has been paramount in the policy and practice of the country. Now the Corona crisis has given us a lesson on how to speed it up. Out of this thought comes the Self-reliant India campaign.