Country moving in the direction of Citizen-Centric Governance: PM Modi at Vanijya Bhawan event
New Delhi, Jun 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new premises of Ministry of Commerce and Industry - 'Vanijya Bhawan' and launched new portal NIRYAT (National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Trade) on Thursday.
Speaking at the occasion, the Prime Minister said today another important step has been taken in the direction of the journey of Citizen-Centric Governance in New India on which the country has been moving for the last 8 years. The country has got the gift of a new and modern commercial building as well as an export portal, one physical and other digital infrastructure, he said.
PM
Remembers
Dr
Shyama
Prasad
Mukherjee
The
Prime
Minister
noted
that
today
is
also
the
death
anniversary
of
the
country's
first
Industries
Minister
Dr
Shyama
Prasad
Mukherjee.
"His
policies,
decisions,
resolve,
and
their
fulfilment
were
very
important
in
giving
direction
to
independent
India.
Today
the
country
is
paying
its
humble
tribute
to
him",
he
said.
Ease
of
Living
Referring
to
the
new
infrastructure
of
the
Ministry,
the
Prime
Minister
said
that
this
is
also
time
to
renew
the
pledge
of
ease
of
doing
business
and
through
that
'ease
of
living'
too.
Ease
of
access,
he
said,
is
the
link
between
the
two.
He
said
that
there
should
not
be
any
hindrances
in
communicating
with
the
government
and
making
the
government
accessible
with
ease
is
a
major
priority
of
the
government.
This
vision
is
clearly
reflected
in
the
policies
of
the
government,
he
added.
New
Work
Culture
in
India
Referring
to
many
examples
of
the
recent
past,
the
Prime
Minister
said
that
in
the
new
work
culture
of
the
New
India,
completion
date
is
part
of
SoP
and
is
strictly
adhered
to.
He
remarked
that
only
when
the
government's
projects
do
not
hang
for
years
and
are
completed
on
time,
similarly,
the
government's
schemes
reach
their
goals,
then
only,
the
taxpayer
of
the
country
is
respected.
Now
we
also
have
a
modern
platform
in
the
form
of
the
PM
Gatishakti
National
Master
Plan.
He
said
that
this
Vanijya
Bhawan
will
give
a
push
to
the
nations
'Gati
Shakti'.
Need
to
the
Innovation
and
Improvement
The
Prime
Minister
cited
the
new
Vanjiya
Bhawan
as
also
the
symbol
of
his
Government's
achievements
in
the
field
of
commerce
during
this
period.
He
recalled
that
at
the
time
of
foundation
stone
laying,
he
had
stressed
the
need
for
innovation
and
improvement
in
the
Global
Innovation
Index.
Today,
India
is
ranked
46th
in
the
Global
Innovation
Index
and
is
continuously
improving.
He
had
also
talked
about
improving
ease
of
doing
business
at
that
time
,
today,
more
than
32000
unnecessary
compliances
have
been
removed.
Similarly, GST was new at the time of foundation stone laying of the building, today, 1 lakh crore GST collection per month has become commonplace. In terms of GeM, 9 thousand crore worth rupees orders were discussed then, today, more than 45 lakh small entrepreneurs are registered on the portal and orders worth more than 2.25 crore have been placed. The Prime Minister had talked about 120 Mobile units at that time up from just 2 in 2014, today this number has crossed 200. Today India has 2300 registered Fin-tech startups, up from 500, 4 years ago. At the time of the foundation stone laying of the Vanijya Bhawan India used to recognize 8000 startups every year, today, this number is more than 15000, the Prime Minister informed.
Export
Targets
Increased
The
Prime
Minister
noted
that
last
year,
despite
the
historic
global
disruptions,
India's
exports
stood
at
a
total
of
$
670
billion
i.e.
Rs
50
lakh
crore.
Last
year,
the
country
had
decided
that
despite
every
challenge,
it
has
to
cross
the
threshold
of
$
400
billion
i.e.
30
lakh
crore
merchandise
export.
We
crossed
this
and
created
a
new
record
of
export
of
$
418
billion
i.e.
31
lakh
crore
rupees.
"Encouraged
by
this
success
of
the
past
years,
we
have
now
increased
our
export
targets
and
have
doubled
our
efforts
to
achieve
them.
Collective
effort
of
everyone
is
very
necessary
to
achieve
these
new
goals",
he
said,
further
adding
that
not
only
short
term
but
long
term
targets
should
be
set.
NIRYAT
Portal
The
Prime
Minister
said
that
NIRYAT
-
National
Import-Export
for
Yearly
Analysis
of
Trade
portal
will
help
in
breaking
silos
by
providing
real
time
data
to
all
stakeholders.
"From
this
portal,
important
information
related
to
more
than
30
commodity
groups
exported
to
more
than
200
countries
of
the
world
will
be
available.
In
the
coming
time,
information
related
to
district-wise
exports
will
also
be
available
on
this.
This
will
also
strengthen
the
efforts
to
develop
the
districts
as
important
centers
of
exports",
the
Prime
Minister
said.
The Prime Minister underlined the role of increasing exports in the transition of a country from developing to developed country. The Prime Minister said that in the last eight years, India has also been continuously increasing its exports and achieving export goals. Better policies to increase exports, easing of the process, and taking products to new markets, have helped a lot. He said that today, every ministry, every department of the government is giving priority to increasing exports with a 'whole of government' approach. Be it the Ministry of MSME or Ministry of External Affairs, Agriculture or Commerce, all are making common efforts for a common goal. "Exports from new areas are increasing. Even from many aspirational districts, exports have now increased manifold. The increase in exports of cotton and handloom products by 55 per cent shows how the work is being done at the grassroot level", he pointed out.
Vocal
for
Local
The
Prime
Minister
said
that
the
government's
emphasis
on
local
products
through
the
Vocal
for
Local
campaign,
'One
district,
one
product'
scheme,
has
also
helped
in
increasing
exports.
Now
many
of
our
products
are
being
exported
for
the
first
time
to
new
countries
of
the
world.
"Our
Local
is
fast
becoming
Global",
he
said
citing
examples
like
Sitabhog
Mithai
being
exported
to
Bahrain,
Fresh
King
Chilli
of
Nagaland
to
London,
Fresh
Burmese
grapes
of
Assam
to
Dubai,
tribal
Mahua
products
from
Chattisgarh
to
France
and
Khumani
of
Kargil
to
Dubai.
GI Tagging to Connect Farmers
Reiterating the steps taken recently the Prime Minister said "We are also helping and emphasizing on GI tagging to connect our farmers, weavers and our traditional products with the export ecosystem." He also referred to trade deals with UAE and Australia last year and informed that there has been a lot of progress with other countries as well. He praised the Indian diplomatic institutions abroad for working hard to convert a very challenging environment into opportunities for India. "For business, identifying new markets and manufacturing products after identifying their needs is very important for the progress of the country", he said.
In conclusion, the Prime Minister requested every department to periodically review the portals and platforms that have been developed in recent times. "The goals with which we have developed these tools, how far they are being achieved and if there is a problem then efforts should be made for solving them."