On 8th August 2020, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME) and Road Transport & Highways addressed the “India@75 Summit – Mission 2022” organised by the confederation of Indian Industries(CII) which was focused on ‘reinventing technology in India’. He stated that to achieve self-reliant India, the MSME Ministry and Industries should be made import substitutes, cost-effective, pollution-free and indigenous.
MSME sector:
i.The government is working on a scheme for the inclusion of the smallest unit under the MSME sector and to provide their micro financial requirements.
ii.The MSME sector has expanded with the new definition of MSME with the increased investment value upto 50 crore and turnover upto Rs 250 crore and the manufacturing and service sectors under the MSME are integrated under a similar definition.
iii.The exports avenues in MSME sector of India can be expanded with technology upgradation which will also increase the number of ancillary units.
iv.Increasing import duty in some sectors will support the Indian manufacturer.
Road Transport & Highways:
i.CII was asked to draft the proposal for insurance of roads which will eliminate the requirements of Bank Guarantee(BG).
ii.This will accelerate the financial closure of road projects and raise the finances which results in faster completion of the projects.
iii.The Investment on the changing road scenario in India will improve with the proposed 22 new green expressway projects.
External Affairs Minister on FTA and RCEP:
i.Speaking on India@75 Summit External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that Free Trade Agreements(FTA) make out as the only vehicle to engage the world and advised against the decision on not to join the FTA.
ii.He also referred the decision of India in 2019 on not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP)
Recent Related News:
i.Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari accepted the Punjab state government’s demand for including Amritsar in an expressway project that will connect Delhi and Katra, Jammu & Kashmir.
ii.The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has created & launched a dashboard link in its website which lists details of Dhabas and Truck Repair Shops available across the country by various organisations like National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), States,Oil Marketing companies.
About CII:
President– Uday Kotak
Vice President– Sanjiv Bajaj
Headquarters– New Delhi
