Make full use of PLI, invest in agri, food processing: PM Modi to industry

In an interaction with the industry leaders across sectors ahead of the budget, prime minister Narendra Modi has urged the top leaders to make full use of the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme of the government and invest more in the agriculture and food processing sectors. The industry leaders, on their part, suggested inputs and suggestions ahead of the budget.

Stressing on the need for the industry to make full use of the PLI scheme, PM Modi said in the meeting, “The country wants to see our industries among the top five of the world in every sector, and this is something which we should collectively work towards. The corporate sector should invest more in areas like agriculture and food processing.”

The prime minister also talked about the shifting focus on natural farming.

“The government is firmly committed to take initiatives which will give impetus to economic progress of the country,” PM Modi added according to a release shared by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) late Monday evening.

According to the PMO release, Modi also spoke about the focus of the government towards reducing compliance burden, and sought suggestions on areas where undue compliances need to be removed.

Industry leaders present in the interaction said the economy is moving ahead on the path of recovery after the pandemic through timely interventions and transformative reforms undertaken by the government, while at the same time, offering a string of suggestions for putting the economy on track to higher growth.

Tata Steel MD and CEO TV Narendran said the government's timely response has led to V-shaped recovery after Covid-19. ITC CMD Sanjiv Puri suggested that the government must take measures to further boost the food processing industry. Kotak Mahindra Bank CMD Uday Kotak said that path-breaking changes have been brought through simple reforms like Swachh Bharat, Start up India, etc.

JSPL’s Seshagiri Rao made suggestions towards making scrappage policy more comprehensive, while Maruti Suzuki India MD Kenichi Ayukawa expressed commitment about realising the PM's vision of making India a manufacturing giant, according to the release from the PMO.

“Sumant Sinha said that PM’s leadership in Glasgow was highly appreciated by global community members,” the release added. While Apollo Hospitals vice chairperson Preetha Reddy talked about steps to boost human resource in health, Ritesh Agarwal, CEO of Oyo Rooms, deliberated upon the need to focus on emerging areas like AI and machine learning, according to the PMO.

“They expressed commitment towards contributing to the Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision of the Prime Minister, and praised several steps taken by the government like PM GatiShakti, IBC etc. They spoke about steps that can be taken to further boost ease of doing business in the country. They also talked about India’s commitments at COP26 and how industry could contribute towards achieving the goals outlined,” the PMO release said.

This was the second meeting of PM Modi with the industry in the run-up to the budget.