Govt looking at archaic labour laws, easy credit to boost mfg

The government today said it is looking at the archaic labour laws and working towards ensuring easy credit to entrepreneurs with a view to boost manufacturing as part of 'Make in India' campaign.
"Labour law is the area where the government has to spend a lot of time...Government is definitely looking at it carefully to ensure that labour's rights and their interest are well protected but at the same time hindrance of laws... archaic rules may all be looked into and some kind of resolution brought in," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here.
She was speaking at the Shri Ram Economics Summit 2015 here organised by the prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce.

The Minister said that states like Rajasthan have already announced ways to relax labour laws.
On the issue of credit availability, she said that cost of capital is an important issue.
Sitharaman said the recent cut in interest rates by the RBI is a positive signal and an "indicator that things are moving in the right direction".

"Lot of process (we) are undergoing so that credit availability will not be a hindrance to 'Make in India'," she added.
'Make in India' is an ambitious programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which aims at attracting domestic and foreign investments and boost manufacturing sector growth.

Asserting that it is a "realistic" campaign, she said it talks about simplifying processes, modernising infrastructure, opening new sectors for investments and changing mindset.
Citing the example of defence sector, the Minister said the government is taking series of steps to de-licence products, reduce paperwork and time for approvals and clearances.
On boosting infrastructure, she said things were moving towards setting up of industrial corridors including the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which aims at providing world-class facilities to manufacturing units.
"GST (Goods and Service Tax) is going to make a big reform in the way taxes are collected. Smart cities are being proposed and MoUs being signed to develop these cities. We are building smart cities with international technologies," she added.

To change the mindset, Sitharaman said that in the recently concluded workshop on 'Make in India', state governments, the Centre and industry leaders deliberated upon several issues related to increasing the share of manufacturing in the country's GDP.
"An action plan has been presented to the Prime Minister by 25 ministries. 'Make in India' is not idealistic, it is absolutely a realistic campaign of the government," she added.