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