The Central government is considering steps to allay concerns of the industry regarding strengthening of rupee, rise in interest rates, inadequacy of infrastructure and shortage of critical skills, assured Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma, in his address to the Members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Commerce and Industry.
Mr. Sharma said that some of industry’s concerns were genuine. He said, “The government is conscious of these constraints and taking calibrated steps to have a judicious policy mix that would sustain industrial recovery and at the same time result in fiscal consolidation.”
Mr. Sharma stressed the importance of manufacturing sector to Indian economy when he said, “An economy of our size and scope cannot ignore the manufacturing sector. The share of manufacturing in national income has shown only a marginal improvement from 15.8 per cent in 1991 to 16 per cent now. This should be somewhere around 25 to 35 per cent and requires the manufacturing sector to keep growing in double digits during the next decade.”
The Minister said that the government is planning to draft a new National Manufacturing Policy by yearend. To this end, the department is circulating a discussion paper at present to gather views of all stakeholders.
Mr. Sharma added, “We also intend to establish national manufacturing and investment zones to push the manufacturing share in our GDP. The objective is to increase the sectoral share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent by 2022, double the current employment level in the sector and enhance global competitiveness of the sector.”
The Commerce and Industry Minister also said that government is initiating appropriate fiscal and monetary policies to cushion Indian economy from the aftereffects of global recession. The fiscal stimulus announced by the government till date totals Rs.186,000 crore.
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