New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met chief executives of leading companies across sectors ranging from banking to telecom, to health and electronics, for inputs for the next year’s Budget, news agency PTI reported.
This interaction comes after PM Modi last week met leading private equity/venture capital players to seek suggestions on making India a more attractive investment destination.
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On Monday, PM Narendra Modi interacted with the leading CEOs of companies across banking, infrastructure, automobiles, telecom, consumer goods, textile, renewables, hospitality, technology healthcare, space, and electronics, PTI reported official sources as saying.
They said that this meeting is a part of the many interactions that PM Modi is holding ahead of the Budget to receive inputs and suggestions from the private sector.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also mentioned that this was the second such interaction of the Prime Minister with industry representatives in the run-up to the next Union Budget.
As per the official statement by PMO, PM Modi thanked the industry leaders for their inputs and suggestions while exhorting them to make full use of policies like PLI incentive. He talked about the inherent strength of the country, displayed during the battle against COVID.
“He said that just like the country aspires for a podium finish at the Olympics, the country also wants to see our industries among the top five of the world in every sector, and this is something for which we should collectively work towards,” PMO stated.
The Prime Minister advised that the corporate sector should invest more in areas like agriculture and food processing, and talked about the shifting focus on natural farming. He also underlined the policy consistency of the government, and said that the government is firmly committed to take initiatives which will give impetus to economic progress of the country.
PM Modi spoke about the government’s focus towards reducing compliance burden, and sought suggestions on areas where undue compliances need to be removed, his office mentioned.
The industry representatives who gave their feedback to the Prime Minister also thanked him for putting his faith in the private sector.
“They said that due to his leadership, the economy of the country is moving ahead on the path of recovery after COVID, through his timely interventions and transformative reforms,” the PMO wrote.
It was stated that they expressed commitment towards contributing to PM Modi’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision, and praised several steps taken by the government like PM GatiShakti, IBC, etc.
According to the PMO, “they spoke about steps that can be taken to further boost Ease of Doing Business in the country. They also talked about India’s commitments at COP26 and how industry could contribute towards achieving the goals outlined”.
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Chief Executives Share Views
The chief executives who took part in the meeting shared their views after their discussion with the Prime Minister.
Kenichi Ayukawa, MD-CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, told news agency ANI: “PM has grand vision and ambitions for India. The industry is fully committed to contributing to his grand vision by making India a manufacturing hub. I think most foreign investors like to invest in India as they’ve confidence in the PM’s policies”.
“Most important is his focus on research, innovation, his belief in the capacity that India has to step beyond where we are. He laid out a clear vision statement. Every sector and industry we are in, we should be in top 5 in global rankings, no. 1 if possible”: TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan revealed.
“His dream is to see Indian companies in the top 5 across the world in all sectors. government is ready to take all risks for it and create a platform and enabling environment. This was an interactive session as well as a very good inspirational discussion”: ANI quoted Vineet Mittal, Chairman, Avaada Group, as saying.
Uday Kotak, MD-CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank said that “time has come for Indian industry, banking and financial sector to think about scale without fear. Enthused about India’s potential. Indian banking and finance is out there to support industry across sustainability, inclusion, digital and infrastructure”.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is due to present on February 1 the Budget for the next fiscal year that starts on April 1, 2022.
Since coming to power in 2014, the BJP-led union government has unveiled a series of reforms and it is now pushing for making India a manufacturing hub.
Production-linked incentive schemes for sectors from automobiles to semiconductors and solar have been announced to attract global manufacturers to set up a base in the country.
(With Inputs From Agencies)
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