Task force for govt, industry interaction

Cabinet note on proposed policy soon

The decision was taken on Wednesday after Sharma met a delegation of industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

“The dialogue with industry has been taking place but we will put it in a structured format and also have a similar dialogue at regional headquarters,” the minister said after the meeting.

Assuring the industry of speeding up reforms, Sharma said a task force will work  jointly with the industry for reviving factory output and boosting FDI inflows. The industrial growth slowed down to 5.6 per cent in May.

“Some discussions have already taken place in southern India in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore last month and we will do it for the eastern and western region in Kolkata and Mumbai soon,” he said.

The task force will be two-tiered. At the national level it will be chaired by the commerce and industry minister while the regional task force will be co-chaired by the secretary of the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) and a CII representative.

The ministry is trying to take the industry into confidence on various issues including foreign direct investment policies, decline in the inflows of foreign direct investment and the slowdown in industrial output.  After reviewing the causes of slowdown in industrial growth with the corporate leaders, he said a Cabinet note on the proposed policy to boost manufacturing will be circulated soon.

The National Manufacturing Policy which has been given an in-principle approval by a committee chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was discussed at length at the meeting. Sharma will hold similar consultations with the FICCI leadership on Thursday.

“Some fine-tuning was required with few ministries. Other meetings which will take place within the next 10 days will help us in bringing this to a successful conclusion” Sharma said. In the backdrop of long-pending decision on opening up the multi-brand retail to the foreign direct investment, the minister said there was a need for further liberalisation of the FDI regime.

“Several suggestions have been given to the government and the minister has promised to take action on many of them. Industry is confident that reforms will be speeded up,” CII President and Tata Steel Vice Chairman B Muthuraman said.