New Delhi : India will be a 5 trillion dollar economy, it is only a matter of time according to Mr Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation. He was speaking at the Annual Session 2018 organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi on 9th of April 2018. Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII in his opening remarks asked how CII can work towards making India a 5 trillion dollar economy and how CII and its membership can work with the Ministry on pertinent issues.
Commenting on the present situation in the global economy, Mr Prabhu commented that with the recent measures taken by countries affecting global trade, we might be living in a new normal. According to him, post the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in recent times, people are questioning globalization and different definitions of globalization are emerging. India must face the challenge and convert it to an opportunity said Mr Prabhu. He believes India must take the lead and take advantage of globalization.
After the inconclusive conclusion of the 11th WTO Ministerial, he said that the global community appreciated the effort by India in organizing the Mini Ministerial. Touching upon India and Africa, he said India is also working with African countries to develop an agreement where both parties reap benefit from initial offers and can subsequently deepen trading relationships. India is working out a strategy and is actively working with other countries both multilaterally and bilaterally said Mr Prabhu. Turning to Standards, Mr Prabhu underlined the importance of Standards and said that the Commerce Ministry is working on developing standards for all products.
Trade, Mr Prabhu said, can only happen once products are manufactured. India must produce and increase the scale of the production to increase its share in the global economy he said. He believes that in India, services will be exported more than merchandise goods. The service sector according to Mr Prabhu will also create jobs. To this end, the Government has allocated 5,000 crs toward 12 champion service sectors. However, for India to be a 5 trillion dollar economy, manufacturing must also increase. He asked Industry to share with the Ministry what regulatory issues are affecting industries. He also said that inputs are being solicited from start-ups as existing laws were not made with Start Ups in Mind.
He also added that the Commerce Ministry is working on bettering Ease of Doing Business at the district level. Turning to the tax-GDP ratio, an increase in the ratio will lead to a decline in tax rates and the Government will have more resources to spend.
Turning to Aviation, there exists an opportunity for growth in air cargo and given the increasing demand for aviation in this country, there exists an opportunity for the growth of aerospace manufacturing in the country according to Mr Suresh Prabhu.
Ms Shobana Kamineni, President, CII in her remarks mentioned that the new industrial policy is to be unveiled shortly. There are new ways emerging on how business is being done in India. New and Emerging areas such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 will be part of the policy she said. In her remarks she also stressed that India needs to be part of Global Value Chains (GVCs) and the global world to become a 5 trillion dollar economy. She also mentioned that we must strive to see small industry grow to medium industry and medium industry to large. In her remarks Ms Kamineni also said that Industry wants to be a partner to make India a 5 trillion dollar economy.
