The President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Ajay S Shriram, on Thursday welcomed the launch of 'Make in India' initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling it a new deal for India's manufacturing sector.
He said that the initiative to ease procedures and welcome investment into the sector had been taken at the right time.
"It is the only way to generate employment for the large pool of young people joining the labour force every year. As mentioned by the Prime Minister, the purchasing power of the people can be enhanced and demand created only if they have employment opportunities," Shriram said.
"CII endorses the idea that security of investment and consistency in policies are most important for developing the trust of investors. The assurance given by the Prime Minister that the centre and states will work as a team is important for industry. His emphasis on self-certification will go a long way in reducing difficulties for businesses," he added.
Shriram further said Prime Minister Modi's emphasis on skill development and mapping of skills to industries is an important endeavour that must be pursued.
"CII has taken many initiatives in this area and trained many workers with specific skills across sectors by adopting ITIs and developing skill gurukuls," Shriram said.
"Another new idea in the PM's speech was that India is ideally placed to Look East and Link West. This will help products manufactured in India to enter the global value chain. It is interesting that the PM has equated FDI to the notion of First Develop India. Digital India should lead to much better governance that will help India improve its rank in the Ease of Doing Business," he added.
The CII President also welcomed the emphasis on ease of doing business by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
"The repeated mention of "Ease of Doing Business" is very heartening, since CII has taken this up as its priority in our advocacy with the Government and we are grateful that the Government has been receptive to the various suggestions," said Shriram.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi launched the 'Make in India' initiative whose objective is to make India a manufacturing hub by attracting foreign companies to set up their manufacturing units.
Addressing a gathering consisting of top global CEOs at the event in Vigyan Bhawan here, Prime Minister Modi said 'FDI' should be understood as 'First Develop India' along with 'Foreign Direct Investment'. He urged the investors not to look at India merely as a market, but instead see it as an opportunity.
Prime Minister Modi said it is important for the purchasing power of the common man to increase, as this would further boost demand, and hence spur development, in addition to benefiting investors.
Prime Minister Modi said that India is the only country in the world that offers the unique combination of democracy, demography, and demand. He said the new government was taking initiatives for skill development to ensure that skilled manpower was available for manufacturing. He also referred to the Digital India mission, saying this would ensure that government processes remained in tune with corporate processes.
Prime Minister Modi further said that he had felt a mood of gloom among India's business community in the last few years due to lack of clarity on policy issues. He said he had heard even Indian businessmen say that they would leave India and set up business elsewhere. The Prime Minister said this hurt him, and added that no Indian business should feel a compulsion to leave the country under any circumstances.
He said on the basis of the experience of the last few months, he could say that the gloom has lifted.
The Prime Minister gave the example of the new Government's initiative on self-certification of documents, and said this was illustrative of how the new government trusted the citizens.
To the expression "Look East," the Prime Minister Modi added "Link West", and said a global vision was essential. He said Mission Swachh Bharat and "waste to wealth" could lead to good revenue models for business as well.
He referred to his vision of waste water management and solid waste management in 500 towns across India through public private partnership.
Prime Minister Modi also spoke of infrastructure of the future - including i-ways besides highways - and mentioned port led development, optical fibre networks, gas grids and water grids.
He also unveiled the Make in India logo and launched the website makeinindia.com.
