Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

19-August-2011 14:25 IST

National Manufacturing Policy in Few Weeks, Cabinet Paper Moved Anand Sharma Addresses Export Summit-2011

The Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Shri Anand Sharma informed today that his ministry has moved the cabinet paper on the National Manufacturing Policy. Speaking at the Export Summit-2011, here today, Shri Sharma said “yesterday I signed the Cabinet note on the National Manufacturing Policy and in few weeks time India will have its first national Manufacturing Policy in place.” The Policy aims to take the share of manufacturing from 16 per cent to 25 percent by 2025. He said that in the coming few years about 100 million young people will enter the job market and emphasis on manufacturing is the critical part of creating employment for them. He also informed that the policy will provision for creation of world class manufacturing infrastructure, augmented with appropriate social and institutional infrastructure, through establishment of integrated mega National Investment and Manufacturing Zones(NIMZs).

Detailing the efforts to promote exports, Shri Sharma said that the strategy of diversification, both in terms of markets and products, have yielded good results and helped us in overcoming the issues created by the global economic problems. He said that there has been a substantial progress in our trade with Latin America, Africa and ASEAN. The Minister pointed out that with these measures we have been able to cross 600 billion USD mark in our two-way trade last year and expressed the confidence that we will be able to achieve the target of doubling our exports in per cent terms by 2020. “While traditional items will continue to grow we are getting good exports in high end manufacturing and engineering. The sectoral plans are in place to carry on the momentum”, Shri Sharma added. However, he stressed the need to prepare for every eventuality as the global recovery is fragile and new problems are emerging.

Commenting on the growing industry-government interaction the Minister said that after his two meetings with the industry, the Finance Minister, along with him, met the captains of industry. “Many of the measures that came out of the discussion are already under implementation” he added.

Expressing concern over the deteriorating discourse about the institutions of Indian democracy, the Minister said that “we must not encourage an impression about India where institutions are weak. The Parliament has shown the robustness of the institutions in our system. We are rule based and rule governed country where action is taken against those who indulge in the wrongdoing.” Referring to the case of Satyam, the Minister said that Indian government acted along with the industry and the company was saved along with thousands of jobs. The alleged perpetrators are in jail. This has not happened in many developed economies where such scams resulted in the loss of jobs and collapse of the companies.

DS/gk

National Manufacturing Policy to establish NIMZs and boost manufacturing-led employment through integrated zones and institutional reforms. Cabinet submission has been made for a National Manufacturing Policy to expand manufacturing's economic share and create large-scale employment by establishing world-class manufacturing infrastructure and integrated National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs), supported by social and institutional measures. The announcement highlights export diversification and targeted sectoral plans to grow high-end manufacturing exports, notes active industry-government engagement with measures under implementation, and affirms commitment to institutional robustness and rule-based governance, citing government action in a major corporate fraud as evidence of enforcement.