'Agri, SSI sectors key to growth'

India should focus on enhancing the productivity of its agriculture and manufacturing sectors, especially the SSI sector.

This hinges on the conviction that productivity is directly related to sustainable economic growth, said R Seshasayee, president, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and managing director, Ashok Leyland Ltd.

Delivering the special address at the inaugural session of the 7th Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) National Conference, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Chennai, Seshasayee said Indian industry and government should understand that productivity is the key to economic growth. The economic growth of the US was directly linked to its productivity.

"Whenever productivity fell, no matter which country you look at, the economic growth too fell. Hence, productivity is a decisive factor to economic growth," he said.

Seshasayee pointed out that India has over 70 per cent of its population engaged in agriculture and allied activities, but they contribute less than 20 per cent of the national GDP.

This means that the productivity of farm labour and value addition of farm produce continue to be extremely low. "And, the semi-skilled and skilled workforce encompassing plumbers and mechanics, among others, are far below than the global average since they do not have access to tools and automation to achieve higher levels of productivity," Seshasayee noted.

"There are over 1.40 crore small and medium enterprises in India that contribute over 40 per cent of the manufacturing output. However, most of the SMEs are not in the top quarter in terms of quality."

Attributing India's economic growth to the success of its private enterprises, Seshasayee said if the contribution of manufacturing to economic growth was growing at 10-11 per cent annually, a lot of credit must go to the Japanese gurus who taught the Indian industry what quality and productivity meant.