India Inc pats Narendra Modi for restoring government credibility

New Delhi, July 1: India Inc has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for restoring the government's credibility by taking steps towards transparency in its functioning.

"The NDA government has shaped a new economic direction for the country's growth and development over the past year," the prime minister's office said in a statement after a 15-member CII delegation called on Modi on Tuesday.

Appreciating the government's work during its first year in office, industry captains said its various initiatives such as ease of doing business and Make in India were visionary and innovative with high impact.

"The speed and scale of rollout of these campaigns have been remarkable and unprecedented," the statement said, quoting views of the delegation members representing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Other initiatives include smart city mission, housing for all, clean energy mission, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (clean India drive) and Jan-Dhan Yojana (national mission for financial inclusion of all, including the unbanked).

Welcoming India Inc suggestions, Modi exhorted the confederation to motivate its members to work for self-reliance in key sectors in a timeframe.

"As three sectors of the economy - oil and petroleum, electronic goods and defence -- account for most of our import bill, there is huge potential for the industry to innovate and Make in India," Modi told the CII delegation.

There is huge potential for the industry to innovate and Make in India: Modi

Referring to policy decisions on macro-economic management, including 'Pahal' for targeted transfer of cooking gas subsidy and raising foreign direct investment (FDI) limits in various sectors, the delegation told Modi that even the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector grew phenomenally.

Reiterating his vision of governance based on trust and simplification of processes, Modi told the members to work for technological self-reliance.

Modi also spoke on the attention he was giving to speeding up projects by holding monthly interaction (Pragati) with various ministries and chief secretaries of states across the country.

A 11-member delegation of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci), which also called on Modi later, appreciated the government's steps taken to improve the environment for growing business.

"The prime minister urged the federation to motivate its members to work for growth in key sectors such as agro-products, textiles and defence-related manufacturing," the statement noted.

Modi also asked the Ficci members to take advantage of the government's initiatives for developing infrastructure sector, including railways.

IANS