New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday urged the industry captains to take risks and step up investment that is key for revival of economy and employment generation as he assured them of his government's full support and sought their cooperation in reviving the country's economy which declined by more than 7% in the last fiscal due to outbreak of Covid-19 global pandemic.
The deadly SarS-CoV-2 virus has killed more than 4,29,000 Indians and more than 4.33 million people worldwide since it was first detected in the Wuhan region of China in November 2019 and ravaged lives and livelihoods in several countries as nations imposed economic activity and transportation to contain the surge in infections.
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"I will urge you people to further expand your natural tendency to take risks," Prime Minister Modi told a gathering of industry leaders including N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of one of India's largest conglomerate Tata Sons, TV Narendran, President of CII and CEO and MD of Tata Steel, Uday Kotak, MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank among others.
“The country has a lot of hopes from the Industry to increase the pace of investment and employment generation,” said the Prime Minister.
Talking about the major economic reforms taken by his government in the last seven years, including the implementation of a common nationwide goods and services tax (GST), Prime Minister Modi said his government was implementing bold economic reforms out of conviction and not due to any compulsion. He also praised India Inc for meeting the country's needs during the global pandemic by producing masks, hand sanitisers, PPE kits and other Covid related material when the country was completely unprepared to deal with the crisis.
Modi praised the role played by the Industry in the country's economic revival. "India's economy is again picking pace due to the efforts made by all of you. There will hardly be any day when some CEO does not make a statement or when there is no news about new opportunities available in the country," said the Prime Minister. He also referred to reports of a record hiring in the I-T sector, saying it was a result of the growth led by digitization and in such a situation the Industry should double its speed for realizing the national goals.
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He told industry captains that the Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign to reduce the country's dependence on foreign suppliers in critical sectors cannot succeed without the support of the private sector.
In a reflection of the government's strategy to attract foreign capital to strengthen India's manufacturing sector, the Prime Minister said people of India now prefer Made in India products and it was not important whether they have been manufactured by an Indian company or a foreign company but the products must be Made in India.
In his address, the Prime Minister also underscored his government's unflinching commitment to the Industry.
“Today, you people have a government that is abolishing every restriction, pushing every boundary. Today, you have a government that is asking you people: tell us what should be done to further strengthen the Indian industry,” the Prime Minister told the industry leaders.
