New Delhi: Exhorting manufacturers to embrace challenge of competing globally, Union power minister R K Singh said they should make in India not only for the country but for the world.
Addressing the second edition of WorldWide Media Festival of Manufacturing 2024 on Thursday, he said India is open to foreign investors setting up industry in the country. “We want manufacturing to come here. The world is looking at China plus one, we want to be that one.”
Singh said Indian industry needs to look around to compete in external markets and be able to export. “There is no country which can be fully self-sufficient; every country needs to import something, for which you need to be able to sell to that country, which in turn needs quality, finishing and product improvement. This is what industry did not do in the era of licensing,” he said.
He told industry representatives at the event — organised by The Machinist, a B2B magazine for the manufacturing sector — that the quality of their products needs to be so good that they are able to compete globally and their prices need to be reasonable. “Ultimately, you have to compete, and people are not going to suffer while you give them outdated or bad-quality equipment or high prices.”
Reflecting on challenges faced historically by the manufacturing sector, Singh said there has never been a dearth of demand, but the pace of growth brought in by the present govt has multiplied demand manifold. Speaking about the power sector, he said govt has invested about INR 20 lakh crore during the last 9 years, and another INR 17 lakh crore would be invested in the next 5-7 years.
