Flagging a raft of policies and reforms delivered by the government, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday asked corporates not to hesitate but take advantage of these to invest more and expand capacities.
Speaking at the Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM) symposium here, she said prime minister Narendra Modi has neither relented on reforms, nor ignored the wish list of the industry.
“I hope there is no more hesitation for the industry to invest further, to expand capacities, produce more in India, and spell out what else is required by the government to do,” Sitharaman said.
Sitharaman’s response to her demands from the industry
Responding to a question by Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran on her key asks from the industry, Sitharaman said — invest more, partner with the government in skilling youth, and have a year-round engagement with the government and not just before the Budget.
Chandrasekaran acknowledged that the opportunity and the platform that the government has given are enormous, both in the domestic market and in the export market.
FM expresses strong confidence in investments from SMEs and big corporations
“I firmly believe that more entrepreneurs, more small and medium companies and big corporations would make a lot of investments. I’m very confident, because without that investment, we will not be able to capture the opportunity,” he said.
The government has been steadily moving with necessary seriousness, as per the expectation of the industry and cited several government initiatives for promoting ease of doing business, tax-related benefits, framing policies to make businesses better off and opening up for more FDI.
In an interview with FE recently, Sitharaman said India Inc has now lost its often-repeated excuse of having to deal with uncertain demand, as the sweeping GST cuts for more than 375 items will result in an enduring consumption binge.
The private sector capex has been on a slow lane for the most part of post-COVID, which prompted the government to push its capex close to 30% average growth in the last five years.
The minister also asked the industry to partner with the government for skilling the youth to be fit for quick and direct employment.