| Date: |
16-01-2015 |
| Subject: |
States need to do their bit for India's economic growth: Suresh Prabhu |
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JAIPUR: Making a strong pitch for foreign investments, Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu today said the states should play a major role in the growth of the country's economy and creation of jobs.
The Minister said Union government would extend all support to the states and they should focus on specific sectors in which they are strong.
"We need partnership between federal government and state governments. The real growth will come from states...all the aggregate number of states finally becomes the growth number of the country. So, we have decided to make all states of India as partners for growth," he said here while inaugurating CII's Partnership Summit.
Prabhu said NITI Aaayog has been constituted keeping in mind the importance of states.
Speaking at the event, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also sought domestic and foreign investments in states.
She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make In India' campaign mainly focuses on states.
"Emerging economies' strengths lie in the states. We need to identify the steps taken at the state level and also to ensure that action on 'Make in India' is not restricted only to Delhi. 'Make in India' should happen in the states. In Rajasthan, we have identified the intrinsic strength of the state and we are focussing on that," Sitharaman said.
As many 51 countries, 25 trade and economic ministers and multilateral bodies like the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are participating in the two-day function.
"The major component in this is how to partner with states. It's no longer to give directives and allocate funds on the basis of some central directive but it is going to work with the states to find out not only to hand holding but to become a partners of states and develop the states in a significant way," Prabhu added.
Talking about investments in India, he said that India provides huge opportunities for investments in areas such as infrastructure and logistics.
Railways, shipping, road and aviation sectors have huge potential for private sector investments.
"India needs huge investments in infrastructure sector. We need about 10-11 per cent of GDP in this sector. Private sector investments is very important.... We need partners from other parts of the world and so many are present here," he said.
Expressing hope for early implementation of the Goods and Services tax, he reassured the investors that the government would not apply tax laws retrospectively.
Sitharaman said 'Rajasthani' diaspora should act as brand ambassadors within the various consulates and missions abroad in certain key sectors where the state has maximum potential.
"Prime Minister wants representatives from the states to be at the consulates and embassies aborad to take forward their individual interests in the countries where they are based at so that investments can comes directly to the states," she added.
"Make In India aims to address India's ease of doing business rankings and improve it by boosting manufacture and synergising exports," she said.
Further, Sitharaman is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the trade ministers on the sidelines of the event.
Speaking at the function, Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski sought Indian investments in his country.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com
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