New Delhi, December 24
Underlining that the decade ahead must be one of investment, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today pledged to initiate new infrastructure investments, along with labour and tax reforms, to boost manufacturing industry and employment generation.
The fresh investment should convert India into a first rate agricultural, industrial and service economy, Dr Manmohan Singh said at the 78th annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here.
“Our government is committed to unleashing a new surge of investments in all these areas by encouraging enterprise and creativity by reforming the public sector and enabling private-public partnerships,” he observed.
The Prime Minister indicated that if it requires modifications to the labour policies to provide greater flexibility to generate more jobs, then “we will work with the stakeholders to generate consensus on this.”
He stressed that social welfare legislation has to go hand in hand with labour market flexibility as this would create employment while taking care of the employees concerns.
To the critics of globalisation, Dr Manmohan Singh regretted that many business and political leaders only look at the threat of competition from imports and not at the opportunity of accessing new markets through exports.
The Prime Minister spoke about a new company to be set up soon to undertake the planned dedicated railway freight corridors project. Feasibility studies for dedicated freight corridors on the Delhi-Mumbai and the Delhi-Kolkata routes are nearing completion. “We will shortly be setting up a new firm to implement these corridors in addition to allowing private container trains on railway routes.”
Drawing attention to the importance of the manufacturing sector’s growth in poverty eradication and job creation, the Prime Minister said it was necessary to sustain it at 12 to 14 per cent annually and raise its share in the national income to 30 to 35 per cent from the current levels of 17 per cent.
