On Saturday Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for micro small and medium enterprises(MSME) said that to encourage domestic production particularly by small industries, India will consider increasing duties on sectors that heavily depend on imports. At India, @ 75 summits which are organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Gadkari said that” we have to increase import duties in some places, but maybe you may not like it”.
He also added that the main reason to increase import duties is that unless we meet what China is produced in volume, our cost will not come down, so by increasing import duties we can encourage Indian manufacture, and thereby increasing production will naturally make it competitive. To improve the ease of doing business the Indian industries must identify the products which are being imported and should also identify the hindrances in these sectors: Gadkari said.
To reduce the dependence of India on other countries and to encourage local production in May India launched the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.
Earlier this year to encourage local industry Gadkari-let Union Minister for micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) to manage to have import duties slashed on incense sticks and bamboo used in the same. To discourage imports the government imposed licensing requirements for the import of color TV and tires and such similar measures are being mulled for the toys, furniture, and sports goods in July this year. Under the MSME ministry, The Khadi and Village Industries Commission which batted for curbs on import of incense sticks is also now pursuing a ban on import of silk from China among the other products.
In order to see that even the smallest of businesses in our country are covered under the benefits of MSME, the government was working on these policies: Gadkari said. He also added that we have to see if we can make any joint ventures with the foreign countries for the technology up-gradation and also how low-cost foreign capital can be brought in the coming future. Gadkari asked the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) to identify all the issues that are being faced by the MSMEs in the country. He also said that the CII should identify all these such as where can our MSMEs, small scale industries find a market where can we reduce imports and create a market in India, and what are the sectors where we can increase the exports.
