Ratan Tata NMCC Chairman meet leads to co-ordination decision

New Delhi, July 12 (UNI) Investment Commission and National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) agreed to co-ordinate in some identified areas for the growth of the manufacturing sector after a meeting between the commission Chairman Ratan Tata and NMCC Chairman, Dr V Krishnamurthy.

''The report brought out by the Investment Commission is an excellent one and the NMCC would like to be benefitted by the experience gained by commission in identifying the areas for investment having immediate potential for growth and employment generation, '' said Dr Krishnamurthy.

He extended full support to the Commission in its efforts to increase the level of investments both domestic as well as foreign in India. He said robust growth of the manufacturing sector was essential for the balanced growth of the economy and generation of the needed employment.

Mr Tata was accompanied by Ashok S Ganguly and Deepak S Parekh from the commission.

Ratan Tata in his presentation touched upon the thrust areas identified by the Commission that require huge investments, the impediments being faced by the various sectors in the economy and recommendations made by Investment Commission for the removal of bottlenecks in way of attracting investment.

The areas identified by the Commission include energy, textile and garments, automobiles and auto-components, food and agro-processing. The State Governments have a big role to play in improving the availability of power and other infrastructure.

According to the Investment Commission, the total investments required in the manufacturing sector in the next five years would be of the order of 110 billion dollar.

Labour flexibility was another issue that needed to be looked into. He said that an effective mechanism for implementing various recommendations of Investment Commission was needed.

NMCC Member Secretary V Govindarajan stated that so far as the implementation of the National Strategy for the Manufacturing was concerned, a High Level Committee on Manufacturing (HLCM) was recently formed for the purpose of dealing with issues concerning manufacturing sector by the Prime Minister under his Chairmanship and this forum would consider such proposals.

The HLCM consists of the Finance Minister, Commerce and Industry Minister, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council, the concerned Sectoral Minister, Chairman, NMCC and the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Dr Krishnamurthy welcomed the suggestion made by the Investment Commission to work together with the NMCC in the specific sectors that have immediate potential for growth and employment generation.

In this connection, the Textiles and Garments, and Food and Agro Processing sectors were identified to start with. In addition, it was felt that among infrastructure sectors, Power sector required extra attention.

It was agreed that the NMCC and the Investment Commission would continue to coordinate their work through periodic discussions for ensuring the growth of investment in manufacturing sector.

UNI ARB DKS BST2004