Emphasising the need to reduce imports and increase exports to achieve the mission of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,’ Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that India does not need to import from China. “In the auto sector and many items such as agarbattis, we have found solutions. We don't need to import from China. In a lot of items, in place of imports, we are making exports. Our strength is the young talented manpower which is available in the country,” he said.
Speaking at a virtual event organised by Dun & Bradstreet, ‘Business Enterprises of Tomorrow 2020' with the central theme of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the minister stated that Western countries are keenly interested to deal with India and not China. “In this situation, it is advantageous for the Indian economy and the Indian manufacturing sector to create more exports for the country. We are on track and have already reduced imports from China while our export is increasing. The IITs, engineering colleges and research centres are doing a lot of innovation and we will fulfill requirements of the whole world,” he asserted.
Elaborating further on his point, Gadkari highlighted that upgradation of technology, reducing costs, improving packaging and presenting products to the world well could help in achieving such objectives. Delving on the role of the government in creating a self-reliant India, the minister stated how Make in India and Made in India is a priority. “We have already decided to make infrastructure of Rs 100 lakh crore. We are now working on alternative fuels such as ethanol, methanol, bio diesel etc. I am confident that we will reduce imports in crude oil. In electronic software too, we are doing a lot of projects such as laptop, computer, mobile phone among others,” he averred.
Lauding the efforts of the government to support MSMEs, he added that the change in definition for MSMEs had been a revolutionary step in the history of the sector. The ministry of MSME, he said, is working to set up a number of centres of excellence with IITs and NIITs. “The emerging areas in which MSMEs can work are sustainability, green manufacturing, remanufacturing, development of smart villages, e-mobility, robotics and virtual reality,” he revealed.
The virtual launch also saw the release of two publications unveiled by the minister – ‘Leading SMEs of India 2020’ and ‘Leading Mid-Corporates of India 2020.’
Delivering the welcome address, Julian Prower, Chairman - India Board & Chief Operations Officer - International, Dun and Bradstreet said, “Governments around the world have made the development of SMEs as one of their top priorities as SMEs create 7 out of every 10 jobs in the market globally. By 2030, 600 million new jobs will be needed to absorb the growing global workforce and SMEs are expected to play a major role in this area."
While the SME segment of the publication features businesses with annual standalone turnover between Rs 5 crore and Rs 250 crore during FY19, the mid-corporate segment narrows down on businesses between Rs 250 crore and Rs 1,000 crore annual standalone turnover for the same period.
Source:-economictimes.indiatimes.com