Ministry of Commerce & Industry

Posted On: 12 FEB 2019 4:31PM by PIB Delhi

DPIIT Secretary releasing NPC annual report 2017-18

 National Productivity Council (NPC) celebrated its 61st Foundation Day today. NPC observes foundation day as Productivity Day and celebrates National Productivity Week from February 12-18, 2019.

This year’s theme is “Circular Economy for Productivity & Sustainability” which represents a unique opportunity for circular business models for Make - Use - Return. It presents an opportunity for long term economic prospects and regeneration of materials. Transitioning to an efficient circular economy will benefit industry and all stakeholders now and in future.

Addressing the inaugural session in New Delhi, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ramesh Abhishek said that the role of National Productivity Council is very important in the backdrop of the mammoth target of growth to raise the Indian economy to the level of USD 5 trillion by 2025 and USD 10 trillion by 2035. He said that our productivity must be comparable with our competitors in global and regional market value chain so that Indian products can remain competitive. The DPIIT Secretary asked the NPC to play a very critical role to enhance the overall productivity in the Indian industry and to work closely with industry associations. He also emphasized on the need of sensitization and creating awareness in industry, particularly MSMEs. Ramesh Abhishek commended DG, NPC, for her suggestions to work with FICCI on getting circular economy introduced and fast tracked. He said that thereishuge business opportunities in circular economy and the need of the hour is to work with industry to reduce use of natural resources. He said that transforming a linear economy into circular economy is a challenging task and our challenges are going to become even more daunting in the near future as we are looking at expanding our economy, the problem of waste, problem of resources will be even more severe. We have to work closely with industry to see how we can use those principles of reducing the use of natural resources, recycling and reuse and the concept of circular economy. Stressing on the cluster based approach, Ramesh Abhishek asked the NPC to identify some clusters.

Secretary, Department for Investment and Public Asset Management, Atanu Chakraborty and DG, NPC, Dr.Amita Prasad also addressed the inaugural session.

At series of functions are being organised between 12^th to 18^th February. Panel discussions on subjects like artificial intelligence by experts are also being organized to deliberate on the challenges, benefits and outcomes from implementation of circular economy.

Apart from workshopsin New Delhi, the 13 Regional Directorate of NPC at Kolkata, Chennai, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar and Chandigarh will organise seminars and workshops in coordination with State Governments, State PSUs and Businesses. The 23 Local Productivity Councils spread across the country are also organizing workshops.

Ministries involved in production, trade, autonomous bodies, PSUs, apex institutions especially FICCI, industry associations have also been requested to observe productivity week.

The circular economy follows the principle of preservation and enhancement of natural capital by controlling finite stocks and balancing renewable resource flows. Circular economy has the potential to increase productivity and create jobs, whilst reducing carbon emissions and preserving valuable raw materials. It works by extending product life span through improved design and servicing and relocating waste from the end of the supply chain to the beginning – in effect, using resources more efficiently by using them over and over. The challenge lies in building circular economy knowledge and capacity.

***

MM/ SB