New govt should focus on policy implementation: CII

Says no need of more reforms or new policies to revive investment climate

Industry body CII today said after Lok Sabha elections, the new government at the Centre, irrespective of having allegiance to any political party, should focus on "implementing policies" rather than coming out with new ones to revive investment climate.

"We already have a lot of policies in place and these need to be implemented...I would say less about bringing new reforms. We do not need more reforms or new policies. Its about ensuring implementation.

"That is our broad expectations, we have from new government which comes to power (after elections)," CII Northern Region Chairman Zubin Irani told reporters here.

He said the investment level as percentage of GDP had fallen from 36% to 31%.

"But 31% as percentage of GDP is sufficient to get you 7-8% growth if we effectively implement those investments. The issue is that we are not doing that and we should debottleneck the system and get approvals moving to get growth back," he said.

Sharing CII's roadmap for next fiscal for northern states, Irani said that the main focus of CII next fiscal would be to accelerate growth and creation of more employment opportunities.

"We believe that accelerating the growth process may provide employment avenues to millions, leading to accomplishment of our overall goal of attaining long term inclusivity, sustainable growth & social development for the states, the region and the country as a whole," he said.

Irani further pitches for speedy implementation of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) Eastern & Western Dedicated Freight Corridors, Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) and Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) to attract more investments in manufacturing sector.

CII has proactively taken up with the government key stalled projects in infrastructure space (greater than Rs 1,000 crore) with Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI).

"These projects were impacted by bottlenecks such as land and other regulatory or environmental clearances. CII will continue to work aggressively with the government, both states & centre for their speedy implementation", he added.

Describing north as hub of MSMEs, he said CII will launch four clusters in north at - Jaipur, Jalandhar, Baddi and Mandi Gobindgarh to enhance small units competitiveness.

"These clusters will guide and help the MSMEs to focus on adoption of automation and latest technologies. It would also bring down their factor costs while enhancing productivity and quality," he added.

"Financing and availability of credit is the key concern area of MSMEs. To help our MSME members, CII has worked out an agreement with Canara Bank to provide credit facilities on certain concessional rates, said Irani.