Anand Sharma invites Czech Republic to invest in National Investment Manufacturing Zones
Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma has invited Czech investment in the proposed National Investment & Manufacturing Zones in India. Speaking at the inauguration of India Engineering Sourcing Show, in Mumbai on Thursday, in the presence of Martin Kuba, Minister for Trade & Industry, Czech Republic, Sharma said the manufacturing sector in India is set to witness rapid growth in the next 10 years. “Globally, India is ranked as one of the top 10 manufacturers of the world by a recent UNIDO release. India has also been ranked second on manufacturing competence in the 2010 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index prepared by Deloitte and the US Council on Competitiveness”, he added.
Acknowledging the Czech expertise in the field of engineering sector, especially automotives, Mr Sharma said “ we have designated Czech Republic as part of our Market Linked Focus Product Scheme MLFPS for incentivizing our engineering goods export. Czech has reciprocated by identifying India as one of the top 12 countries for future collaborations as part of their Trade Policy.” The Commerce Minister informed his counterpart and 100 strong Czech engineering industry delegation that the Government is setting up National Investment & Manufacturing Zone as stand alone greenfield industrial townships with world class infrastructure. He said, under the National Manufacturing Policy, an attempt has been made to introduce flexibility in labour laws, simplify business regulations, provide fiscal incentives to SMEs and introduce simpler and expeditious exit mechanism. He said “India’s first ever National Manufacturing Policy has been formulated with the twin objectives of enhancing the share of manufacturing in our GDP from the current low level of 16% to at least 25% by the next decade and to create 100 million skilled jobs in the next 10 years.”
Terming the upcoming Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, as the biggest industrial infrastructure project in the world at the moment, Mr.Sharma informed that 8 of the 12 industrial townships fell under DMIC, with the 900 sqkms Dholera Industrial Centre in Gujarat being the largest. He said Government of India has committed Rs 18,500 crores towards the DMIC Trust with Government of Japan committing USD 4.5 billion towards equity participation.
Engineering Industry to drive manufacturing growth
Emphasising the role played by the engineering industry, the Commerce & Industry Minister said it represents 27% of total factories in industrial sector and accounts for 63% of overall foreign collaborations. Quoting the World Bank study “Unleashing India’s Innovations”, Mr.Sharma said India is fast gaining global recognition especially for its low-cost , high-tech frugal innovation technology. He said Major multinationals are today outsourcing industrial engineering design tasks to India in sectors like semiconductors, automotive hybrid technologies, next gen routers in telecom, power generation equipments, aerospace, avionics and consumer electronics, besides setting up R&D centres in India.
The India Engineering Sourcing Show 2013 is focused on promoting collaborative opportunities in India, as a technology hub for manufacturing Industry. 304 Indian and 101 international companies are exhibiting their products and services in the three day show being held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai. Czech Republic is the partner country, with a major presence, while France, Thailand and Japan have put up separate country pavilions.
Later in the afternoon, Mr. Sharma laid the foundation stone for the new campus of the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation, ECGC at Andheri, Mumbai.
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