Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

24-February-2012 17:49 IST

Anand Sharma attends first meeting of the reconstituted NMCC

The Union Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles, Shri Anand Sharma had an in depth interaction with the reconstituted National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) headed by Dr. V. Krishnamurthy, here today. The first meeting was centered on how to attain the objective of 12-14% manufacturing growth rate envisaged in the National Manufacturing Policy.

Mr. Ratan Tata, Mr. B. Muthuraman, Mr. Venu Srinivasan, Mr. Y.C. Deveshwar, Dr. V Sumantran, Mr. Mukul Kasliwal, Mr. Ajay Chowdhry, Mr. B.P. Rao, Ms. Umma Reddy, Dr. Surinder Kapur, Mr. Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, Dr. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Adviser, Prof. S. Chaudhuri, Director IIT, Kanpur and Secretaries of the Department of IPP, Heavy Industry, MSME attended the meeting.

There was unanimity that achieving 12-14% manufacturing growth rate and creating a 100 million jobs over the next ten years was absolutely critical for inclusive growth and social stability. The Members of the NMCC welcomed the National Manufacturing Policy.

Shri Anand Sharma, Commerce and Industry Minister briefed the Members about the progress in implementation of the National Manufacturing Policy. He apprised the Leaders of Industry of the close interaction he was having with the States and highlighted the need for partnership between the Central Government, State Governments and Industry in achieving the ambitious goals of the new Manufacturing Policy. Members highlighted the risk to manufacturing from difficulties relating to getting land and its high costs. The Minister explained that the National Industrial Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) the first few of which have been identified were the key to providing affordable land with infrastructure for globally competitive manufacturing.

The easing of regulatory burden on manufacturing specially for the small and medium enterprises was also essential for competitiveness. It was agreed that this should be given utmost priority.

Representatives of Industry were of the view that a significant lowering of interest rates by the R.B.I. was essential for the revival of investment at the present juncture.

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DS/GK

National Industrial Manufacturing Zones promote affordable industrial land and regulatory easing to boost manufacturing growth. The Council prioritised a central state industry partnership to meet manufacturing growth goals, identifying land scarcity and high land costs as key constraints and designating National Industrial Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) to supply affordable land and infrastructure. It called for easing regulatory burdens on manufacturing-especially for SMEs-to enhance competitiveness, and industry representatives pressed for lower interest rates to revive investment.