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Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said that India will have to face global competition effectively to achieve the goal of becoming a prosperous and developed nation. On the way forward for the Indian economy and the steps being taken to realize the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make India a developed nation in Amrit Kaal, he remarked that 'the pandemic alerted us about our dependence on supply chains, particularly from geographies that are not friendly or transparent'.

He said ‘It opened our eyes on a number of risk factors in our trading system, our manufacturing and technology gaps that existed in India. This insight has helped us to move forward on the path to Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and added that India will have to engage much more with the global economy if we want to develop fast. He also said ‘to achieve the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat, we have to engage much more, not less, with the world, he said. We are not looking for closing our doors - but we are looking to opening our doors wider to global competition and it is the only way that the country will innovate and grow’.

Regarding the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, he said that it is designed to support the industry where it is needed in the initial years. He highlighted that ‘government plays a role of handholding support system through this scheme’. He said ‘PLI gives the kickstart, but then the industry has to move on its own strength’. The Minister informed that all the decisions linked to this scheme are taken by a committee that comprises all stakeholders from the industry itself.

Goyal said that the government is trying to rejuvenate the textile and cotton sector and is working actively to revitalize this industry, from farmers to exports - as PM articulated - from farms to fiber to fabrics to fashion to foreign. He said ‘Similarly, National Technical Textile Mission is working to promote innovation and production. We have over 200 projects where academia, industry and government is working in tandem'.