PM Modi urges industry to work in tandem with government to achieve 'Viksit Bharat'

PM's address to industry: Asserting that he has complete faith in India’s corporate sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged industry to work in tandem with the government to achieve the “Viksit Bharat” objective. 

Addressing the industry captains at the CII Post-Union Budget event, the PM said manufacturing will give an impetus to the objective of Viksit Bharat. “The manufacturing sector has achieved new heights. The Union Budget offers plug-and-plug industrial parks near 100 cities. These new cities will become a hub of manufacturing,” added the PM.

Reflecting on the country’s MSMEs, PM Modi added: “We have a huge focus on MSMEs which provide employment opportunities to lakhs of youth. MSMEs taxe rationalisation and compliance burden, besides their formalisation must happen and it has been a focus area for our government and a lot of work has been done in this regard,” said Modi.

Macro and micro aspects 

Modi said it is important to discuss micro and macro aspects of the Budget. He said the critical mineral mission and a host of other announcements in the Union Budget are driven to provide a boost to growth. 

“Technology is the focus and we know any country which makes its space in the semiconductor segment will prosper. We are encouraging mobile manufacturing to a great extent,” said PM Modi, adding that India used to be a major mobile phone importer but has grown to become a large-scale mobile manufacturer. He said the Electric Vehicle adoption has been a major revolution in the country. The new credit guarantee scheme was launched for MSMEs in the recent Union Budget, which will benefit the industry, Modi added. 

India is the fifth largest economic power and that day is not far when the country becomes the third biggest economic power of the world, added Modi. “The fraternity (politics) I come from is synonymous with forgetting pre-poll promises but I am different. I had promised that the country would become the third largest economy in our third term,” added the PM.

“In 2014, when we came to power, the biggest question was how to bring the economy back on track. Prior to 2005, the fragile situation and corruption in lakhs of crores and besides the situation of the economy was amply clear. The entire economic scenario has been put forth in a White Paper by our government,” added the PM.

White paper 

PM Modi urged all trade organisations and industry bodies to have a healthy debate on the White Paper which he said was issued to deliberate on the uncomfortable economic situation that the country was stuck in.

“Having brought the Indian and India’s economy out of that conundrum has been a huge effort. In 2013-14, when the last government led by PM Manmohan Singh, the Budget size was Rs 16 lakh crore and today this has seen a three-fold increase to touch Rs 48 lakh crore,” added Modi.

Modi said the capital expenditure statistics are quite interesting, adding that in 2004 post A B Vajpayee’s government, UPA govt saw its beginning when capex was Rs 90,000 crore. “Ten years of its tenure UPA saw capex touch Rs 2 lakh crore and today the capex is more than Rs 11 lakh crore,” Modi added.

He said 2004-2014 decade has seen capex two-fold increase and during the NDA government, capex has grown by five times, he added. “Today, India is focussing on the economy of every sector. As compared to ten years of the earlier government we have increased budget for railways and highways by 8 per cent,” added Modi.

MSME incentives 

MSMEs had to pay 32 per cent tax in 2014 which has been brought down now. Companies have a 25 per cent corporate tax at present which has also been a relief, added the PM.

“The question is not just about bringing down taxes but also about good governance. If a person puts on weight and is obese but primarily is a weak person. The Budgets prior to 2014 were similar. Major announcements used to be made to show a good picture of the economy. However, the announcements made in the Budget were not implemented on the ground. The government back then didn’t even use to spend the allocations made to different sectors,” Modi said.

The PM said the speed and scale, which the NDA government was working with has created an example. He said there are a lot of global uncertainties and having the growth and stability which India has showcased is quite unique. “The Forex has improved and India is the lone country with low inflation and high growth,” Modi added.

“The fiscal prudence of India is an example for the whole world. India’s share in global growth is 16 per cent. India has achieved this growth even when there were factors which affected the economy to a great extent,” added Modi.

Global uncertainties 

COVID-19, weather vagaries, and wars fought in different parts of the world were a challenge, said Modi. “We withstood each challenge. Had these uncertainties not occurred, India would have seen far more growth,” added the PM. 

India is envisaging the ease of living and quality of life of common people, he said. “We have a huge focus on Industry 4.0 with skill development as the cornerstone. Startup India, Standup India and Mudra Yojana is helping to create enterprises and startups across the country. Lakhs of youth are working in startups. The Rs 2 lakh crore PM package announced in the budget will benefit 4 crore youth. It is an end to end solution,” added the PM.

It is important to make India’s product competitive globally with its value. The internship scheme and incentivising the industry has been kept at the forefront, the PM said. “The intent and commitment of our government is clear and there is no diversion in our Nation First envisage or $5 trillion economy and the Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Viskit Bharat, we are working with complete focus. We are setting up new milestones,” added the PM.