AIIB meet: PM Modi asks leaders of corporate India to create more jobs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked leaders of corporate India to create more jobs by investing in the housing, micro-irrigation, battery storage, defence and agriculture sectors.
 
Modi, who met 41 business leaders representing a wide spectrum of the Indian economy, in Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, said the government and the private sector must come together to become partners in progress as economy picks up pace. Apart from seeking comments where his government needs improvement, Modi also asked for suggestions from India Inc leaders on the steps to be taken by the government so that the economy can move faster, said a CEO who attended a meeting. “The PM asked CEOs on the sectors which are not doing well but no one could pick up a single sector,” said a CEO asking not to be quoted.
 
The policy reforms and initiatives taken by the government over the last four years were also discussed in the two-hour-long meeting. Industry’s contribution to economic growth and development was also discussed. Modi urged the corporate sector to invest in a big way, especially in the agriculture sector. He also emphasised on the need to promote domestic manufacturing.

 
During the meet, Modi said Digital India is the future of the country and the country must strive for making government services online. In a recent survey of CEOs on Modi’s four years in office, many CEOs had complained that some of the marquee schemes launched with much fanfare like Smart Cities, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Make in India have remained only on paper.
 
The CEOs who attended the meeting included Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, RPG group chairman Harsh Goenka, and State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar among others.
 
Anand Mahindra, chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra and Adi Godrej, chairman, Godrej group, and SN Subrahmanyan, CEO & MD, Larsen & Toubro, also attended the meeting. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present during the meeting.
 

Railway and Power Minister Piyush Goyal made a presentation to the CEOs on the steps taken by the government to make it easier to do business in India.
 
The CEOs were called 40 minutes before the arrival of Modi and they said the mood in the room was of optimism. “The CEOs are expecting that the capital expenditure cycle will now pick up and bank credit will start picking up,” said the chairman of a financial company.
 
Leaders of India Inc are quite confident that 10 per cent economic growth is not an unachievable goal and India is moving in the right direction, said he.