Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, at the 8th India Ideas Conclave in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on Friday, said India needs to brand itself as a "responsible capitalist" economy as capitalism has its limitations.
"We didn't follow the circular economy and principle of re-use because we were an impoverished nation. We thought of it as our responsibility to use as per our needs and not as per our greed. We must understand that capitalism has its limitations & we need to brand India as a 'Responsible Capitalist' country," she said.
The FM said "Brand India's" economic growth model should have features of LiFE -- ‘Lifestyle For Environment', as mentioned by PM Narendra Modi, which means to be more "nature friendly" and have "sustainability".
She said India's strength in science has been unbroken since ancient times. "People outside are willing to recognise that brand of India, which dominated in science. We need to continue with it and ‘Brand Bharat’ should speak for excellence in Science and technology."
She said India is setting standards in pharmaceuticals. "As US FDA Standards are useful for exports, can we, in India, not have Bharat Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which can give global standards and benchmarks? We need to focus on that."