Addressing the closing session of the DPIIT’s webinar on ‘Make in India for the World’, commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that he is convinced that the PM Gati Shakti initiative would be a gamechanger that will one day be adopted by the whole world just like UPI was a game-changer in Fintech and now more and more countries across the world are trying to emulate India’s model.
#PMGatiShakti is a gamechanger which will one day be adopted by the whole world.
— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) March 3, 2022
Govt. on its part is trying to change the rules of the game in the Pharma sector: @PiyushGoyal
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled a Rs 100 lakh crore national master plan for multimodal connectivity last year, with the goal of developing infrastructure to lower logistic costs and promote the economy.
“Today other countries are also talking about programmes similar to Aatmanirbhar Bharat. The world today wants to emulate India story,” Piyush Goyal said.
Today other countries are also talking about programmes similar to Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) March 3, 2022
The world today wants to emulate the India story: @PiyushGoyal
Piyush Goyal said the Prime Minister, in his Inaugural Address to the webinar, renewed emphasis to promote Manufacturing and make India self-sufficient.
The Union Minister’s full speech can be viewed below:
It’s worth noting that Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s remark came in the wake of US President Joe Biden’s recent State of the Union Address, in which he committed to promoting “Made in America” products, echoing India’s economic goal under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
How US President Joe Biden’s commitment to ‘Make in America’ parallels PM Modi’s economic strategy
While the US is attempting to rebuild a new economic strategy, India’s government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been on this path for the previous eight years. India has already begun to promote Ease of Doing Business by lowering compliance costs and limiting government intervention.
For example, the US President, in his address promised that “every American has clean water to drink at home and at school, provide affordable high-speed internet for every American-urban, suburban, rural, and tribal community.”
This echoes India’s Jal Jeevan Mission, which was founded with the goal of ‘Har Ghar Jal,’ has made a significant difference in people’s lives. Despite the pandemic’s limits, about six crore rural families have received tap water hookups.
Moreover, in India, the largest project to improve digital and physical infrastructure gained extraordinary traction during the Corona era itself. Optical fibre connects about 6 lakh villages across the country. A total of USD 1.3 trillion is being invested, with a focus on connection infrastructure. In today’s India, internet connectivity and smartphone prices are among the cheapest in the world. India is also making rapid progress on 5G mobile connectivity, which will offer up a slew of new possibilities. India’s semiconductor initiatives will have a big positive impact on our startup ecosystem.
In his address, Biden emphasised the importance of ‘investing in America’. “Buy American: buy American products to support American jobs.” He even said that “We will buy American to make sure everything from the deck of an aircraft carrier to the steel on highway guardrails is made in America.
He even said that “We will buy American to make sure everything from the deck of an aircraft carrier to the steel on highway guardrails is made in America.
Notably, India has already 8 years ago, begun to implement the Make in India, Make for the World philosophy. India has a plethora of opportunities in this area, including telecommunications, insurance, defence, and aerospace. While pursuing self-reliance, India’s focus is not just on streamlining procedures, but also on encouraging investment and output.
Biden further added, “Let’s provide investments and tax credits to weatherize your homes and businesses to be energy efficient and you get a tax credit, double America’s clean energy production in solar, wind, and so much more, lower the price of electric vehicles.”
Significantly, India has emerged as a responsible global voice on the issue of climate change, which has presented the entire world with a major challenge.
India is now ranked fourth in the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity. In the previous seven years, India’s non-fossil fuel energy has grown by more than 25%, accounting for 40% of our total energy mix. Every year, Indian Railways transports more passengers than the entire world’s population. This massive railway system has set a goal of becoming “Net Zero” by 2030. This project alone will result in a 60 million tonne reduction in annual emissions. Similarly, our enormous LED bulb initiative is saving 40 million tonnes of CO2 each year. India has also provided institutional solutions to cooperate with the rest of the globe on an international level.
Biden also said, “If we want to go forward, not backward, we must protect access to health care. Preserve a woman’s right to choose. And let’s continue to advance maternal health care in America.”
Interestingly, under the leadership of PM Modi, there are more than 80,000 health and wellness centres in India, as well as millions of Ayushman Bharat cards, which have greatly aided the impoverished in receiving care.
Through more than 8,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras, the government has decreased the cost of treatment by supplying affordable medicines. The ‘Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission’ is a significant step in making health care more accessible.
Biden in his speech further announced, “We’re going to have an infrastructure decade. We’ll create good jobs for millions of Americans, modernizing roads, airports, ports, and waterways all across America”.
This again echoed India’s vision as India has also launched the Gati Shakti National Master Plan, which aims to unite all stakeholders in the development process. Work on infrastructure planning, development, and implementation will be done in an integrated way under this National Master Plan.
“Increasing the productive capability of our economy for constructing a better America,” Biden said. He emphasised the importance of fostering a startup culture in order to deliver new-age innovations to the world. In India, more than 60,000 new start-ups have been launched in 56 different sectors since 2016, resulting in the creation of more than six lakh employment.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave a Special Address at a webinar hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Following the opening session, three further sessions were held, covering a paradigm shift in manufacturing in India at 100, (ii) a strategy for realising India’s trillion-dollar export goal, and (iii) examining how MSMEs will operate as the Indian economy’s growth engine. Three top industry experts, i.e. the Session Moderators, presented Action Plans on the outcomes and the way forward during the concluding session. The discussions included senior officials from the federal and state governments.
