Take advantage of govt initiatives and step up investment: Anurag Thakur to India Inc

Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur has exhorted India Inc to take advantage of the recent government initiatives and step up investments to make the country ''Atmanirbhar Bharat''.

In these difficult times, local industries should become the flag-bearers in showcasing that India is an attractive investment destination, he told PTI in an interview.

As part of the Rs 20.97 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat package, Thakur said the government has announced a slew of long-pending structural reforms concerning the industry, especially land, labour and laws, in a bid to improve investment climate and ease of doing business.

Besides, the minister said other bold reforms announced, including easing of limits on foreign direct investment in defence manufacturing, privatisation of six more airports, and allowing private sector in commercial coal mining, provide newer avenues for investment.

To take care of liquidity needs, various schemes have been unveiled to provide cash to industries to kickstart their business, he said.

"I personally believe that we need more investment from the local industries, Indian industries to showcase to others that India is an attractive destination. We need both investments from the domestic industries, and also from other countries," he said.

Talking about new avenues for investment, the minister said, "Agriculture, agro exports, manufacturing of defence equipment within the country and making it a hub for exports. Also, the area of space where you (private players) can get more investment and mining of coal and other mineral sectors could be looked at. So, there could be many sectors."

Industry can also think of innovative ways, for example, importing something cheap, doing value addition and then exporting the goods at substantially higher prices so that the export sector gets a push, he added.

Stressing that economic reform is a continuous process, Thakur said, "I'll say the year 2020 will be known as the year of reforms."

In bold reforms aimed at boosting the coronavirus-hit economy, the government last week announced several reforms including a slew of measures for the agriculture sector, defence manufacturing, civil aviation and mining sector.

"The long-pending demand for the change of definition of MSME, taking farmers out of the clutches of the Essential Commodities Act and the APMC Act have been seen as historic steps.

"Opening up of the coal mining and mineral sector at the same time has been a very positive step towards self-reliance," he said.

"Apart from that, opening up the space sector is not a small reform. Permitting foreign investors to own up to 74 per cent stake in defence manufacturing ventures under the automatic route, from the current 49 per cent limit is another big bold move," he said.

Also, the list of weapons that cannot be imported will be expanded to give Make in India a boost and cut down the import bill as well as improve export potential.

Asked if the government is considering monetisation of debt as an option to shore up its resources, Thakur said, "We are just in the second month of this fiscal year. It will be too early to say anything."

"Nobody knows how this COVID-19 pandemic pans out, what shape it is going to take, what kind of impact it will have on the Indian economy, and globally also no country knows today what lies three months later," he added.

As of now, he said, the government has increased the borrowing limit from Rs 7.8 crore to Rs 12 lakh crore, which is Rs 4.2 lakh crore higher than the Budget estimate.

"All these things could be taken into consideration, either at the revised estimate stage or maybe after every couple of months. We are willing to take any kind of steps in the interest of the public and the country as the situation arises," he added.