World has expectations from India for the long term: Piyush Goyal
PremiumGoyal added that India’s large population is now considered a boon by the world because of its potential to be the market of the future
The world has huge expectations from India, not just for immediate future but for the long term, said Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry on Friday.
Addressing the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (FICCI) National Executive Committee Meeting, the minister said that the world expects India to drive global growth, provide the talent pool that the world needs and spearhead technology transformations. “Global companies are planning to set up manufacturing plants and R&D facilities in India and hope to hire young and talented workforce in significant numbers."
Goyal added that India’s large population is now considered a boon by the world because of its potential to be the market of the future. “There was a time when the people of India were worried about the very basic necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter. Modi government’s relentless focus on improving the lives of people by ensuring that every single citizen had a good home with electricity, cooking gas, clean water and internet connectivity, toilets, road connectivity has empowered India’s population to be aspirational."
He said that the government was also taking sustained efforts to combat hunger by supplying food grains to over 80 crore people under National Food Security Act (NFSA). In addition, they are also providing 5 Kilograms of food grains per month per person under PMGKY.
“The government was able to ensure that no home went without food even during the challenging times of the pandemic. India not only diligently vaccinated its population but also ramped up and augmented its healthcare infrastructure, including medical oxygen and ICU beds during the pandemic. India’s Ayushman Bharat which covered 500 million people was the largest successful health care program in the world."
The minister said that all these initiatives had succeeded in meeting the basic requirements of life, empowering and enabling India’s population to aspire for better things in life and a better quality of life. The burgeoning middle class and greater participation of women in the workplace will create more and more opportunities for our manufacturing and service sectors.
“India is fast adopting technology. With over 800 million smart phones, education reached millions of homes during the pandemic. Government made ceaseless efforts to take good quality 4G to the remotest of areas in India. The country is now preparing for the roll out of 5G across the length and breadth of the nation. Industry should partner with the government to ensure that the whole nation has access to the multifarious advantages of 5G," he said.
Goyal also emphasized on the need for India to embrace innovation. “The youth of the nation should nurture the spirit of enquiry and relentlessly tinker with ideas and find solutions for day-to-day problems of human existence using all possible tools that digital technology has to offer, from Artificial Intelligence to Machine Learning."
He assured that the government has been trying to keep macroeconomic indicators strong. “There was a time in India, almost a decade ago, when double digit inflation was considered as normal. The government had mandated RBI to target inflation and keep it between 2-6%. While several developed nations were grappling with high levels of inflation, India has been successfully keeping inflation at moderate levels."
The Minister said that just as UPI had democratized digital payments, enabled interoperability and brought down transaction costs, ONDC will also help democratize the e-Commerce sector and bring in more transparency and fairness to the entire ecosystem. “ONDC, a set of open protocols, would safeguard customer’s choice, provide better market access to sellers and help bring the remotest corners of the country into the e-Commerce framework by empowering them with digitization. It would help save jobs and safeguard and empower small mom and pop stores in the remotest parts of the nation with the possibilities of technology."
Sanjiv Mehta, President, FICCI, Subhrakant Panda, Senior Vice President, FICCI and other dignitaries were present at the National Executive Committee Meeting.
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