India at BRICS meet: Aatmanirbhar Bharat a global initiative, says Goyal

Minister bats for widening the scope of NDB to strengthen social infra

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday described the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative as a way to engage with the world. Chairing the fifth meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) industry ministers, Goyal said Aatmanirbhar was not an inward looking policy but was about global competitiveness and expanding the frontiers from a position of strength.

He also expressed India's desire to widen the scope of New Development Bank (NDB) for strengthening social infrastructure, besides promotion of the industrial sector, according to a ministry statement.

“We have also announced the PLI (production-linked incentive) schemes worth $26 billion covering 13 champion sectors in the next five years to create and nurture manufacturing global champions for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. The mission is expected to boost all round trade,” the statement said quoting Goyal.

The minister said that emerging technologies would be an indispensable part of almost all activities, including manufacturing. Adoption of new technologies by small businesses would play a crucial role in achieving the target of inclusiveness, he pointed out.

“India has developed a vibrant and dynamic start-up ecosystem, leveraging existing platforms and digital technologies such as Aadhar and UPI payments for ensuring delivery of critical services to the last mile. Online systems like COWIN and digital vaccination certificates are being cited as success stories across the world today,” he said.

He also said that the government was working towards reducing compliances on businesses and citizens. India has improved its rank from 142 to 63, a leap of 79 ranks, during the last five years in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report.

Other BRICS nations reiterated their commitment to make efforts to foster open, fair, and non-discriminatory trade environment, ensure greater participation in global value chains, promote digital inclusion, assess the implications, and encourage the progressive, safe, equitable, and sustainable use of disruptive technologies for advancing growth.