Govt to give priority to infra development: Nirmala

Says India is on the recovery path with higher GDP rate and improved manufacturing growth

Government today assured exporters that it will give top priority to developing modern infrastructure for boosting shipments to overseas markets and spurring economic growth.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that after a phase of slowdown, India is very much on the recovery path with higher GDP rate and improved manufacturing growth.

"I know all of you have concerns about infrastructure growth among others. I assure you, we will give maximum priority to infrastructure growth and development," she said at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC India) here.

Besides slowdown in the global demand, infrastructure bottlenecks are hampering India's exports.

She also said that government has received investment proposals worth USD 3.05 billion under 'Make in India' which is an indication of the impetus being provided to the economy.

'Make in India' aims at attracting domestic and foreign investments to make India a global manufacturing hub.

Sitharaman asked engineering exporters to build a brand for the sector in the global market.

Engineering exports accounts for about 22 per cent in the country's total merchandise exports.

Besides North America and Europe, engineering exports have spread to regions like Africa and Asean, she said adding the key driver in increasing engineering exports is shifting of manufacturing bases to India.

Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said despite numerous challenges on domestic and global front, the sector has proved that India can be a consistent and a good competitor on the global front.

Teaotia said that economic growth in several large economies is not good and "for us borrowing rates are high on account of inflation as well as some currency variations".

She said new opportunities have emerged in outsourcing of engineering goods and services, product design, product improvement and maintenance and "these need to be an area of aggressive focus for us".

India's share in global engineering trade is only 1.2 per cent and the share of high value products in the total basket is only 6 per cent, she said.

"But this really is an opportunity and it means that sky is the limit in terms of potential," she said.

India's engineering exports have increased from USD 50 billion in 2010-11 to USD 70 billion in 2014-15.