Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth today asked the Commerce Ministry to prepare a time-bound action plan on implementation of mandatory standards to enhance competitiveness of domestic products in global markets.
Seth said that it is important for Indian manufacturers to carry a requisite quality tag by complying with the global standards otherwise the manufacturers will not be able to access the export market and benefit from manufacturing growth.
"I would like the Ministry of Commerce to prepare a time-bound action plan to realise specific outcomes (from the two-day Standards Conclave). I hope that such a plan would be available within, let us say, four weeks from now...By end of the next month if you can bring up something," he said.
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He was speaking at the valedictory session of a conclave, jointly organised by the ministry and CII.
Seth said standard subject is very important and relevant at the time when the government has launched the 'Make in India' initiative.
"This is an area where we need to catch up with the rest of the world and enforce standards...We have thousands of standards, we want to make them mandatory because that is the way, that is the route to being competitive in the export market," he said.
He added that proper enforcement and implementation of mandatory standards would help in ensuring that "we have quality goods and quality services".
"So in order to realise this objective, what is important is not just to discuss all these important things but to also ensure a time bound implementation," Seth said.
With this objective in mind, he said: "We have agreed in this conclave that there should be a very specific outcome based...Time-bound implementation".
The Cabinet Secretary asked the ministry to take along other stakeholders in this initiate and that includes the Consumer Affairs Ministry, industry and state governments.
On standards, one department of government cannot work on its own successfully and there is a need for jointness in approach including with the states, he added.
Indian manufacturers would have to comply with international best practices and standards, he said
Continuing its declining trend, India's exports shrank by about 14 per cent in April to USD 22 billion, registering a contraction for fifth straight month.
