Corporate India should work with small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to explore how they can support large units while contributing equally to job creation, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday, while outlining the priorities of the economy for the next decade.
While retail inflation in India rose to a 14-month high of 6.21% in October, she said inflation is now a major global challenge, which no country could tackle in isolation.
“The global priority for this decade should be to restore normalcy. They are the main cause for disruptions in supply chain, inflation and other global challenges,” the minister said.
Speaking at the CII Global Economic Policy Forum here, Sitharaman said the industry will have to realign its policies keeping in mind the political and strategic decisions of the country. “India has always had the strength of small and medium sized enterprises. For the decadal priority, industry should work with small and medium enterprises to explore how they can support large units while equally contributing to job creation,” she said.
Asking industry to do its bit in skilling, she said it is going to be difficult for industries to get the manpower they need unless they work with governments to train for specific skill sets.
Industry and governments everywhere should attempt to restore global calm and normalcy, she said, adding that there can never be enough justifiable reason for skirmishes or war.
“Economic and commercial considerations today will have to look at blending economy and its priorities with politics and strategic needs. The lessons that we have learnt in the last decade should tell us that we now have to re-align ourselves and the industry also will have to do the same.”
There is a need to blend large, small and medium industries to achieve “scale and spread” and job creation, Sitharaman said.
“Industry will have to look at ways to adapt with newer challenges,” she said, adding scale cannot be the only criteria.
The benefits of economic success will be spread properly only through technology. India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) & technology stack for agriculture have democratised access, she said. Farmers are now able to access the global markets due to the advantage of technology. I’m sure that ‘Agri Stack’ will be the next big thing to you will hear coming out of India, she added.