Hon’ble Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, speaking at the Launch Session of the CII’s Digital Exhibition on Construction Equipment spoke on the issues and challenges faced by all industries and the country. He said it was equally important that at this time of disruption its appropriate that all stakeholders have to come forwards and face the challenges.
He also mentioned that in the next five years the Automobile industry will play a key role in India’s Economy and making India as the manufacturing hub in the world. To achieve that we need to develop a lot of things like skilled manpower, infrastructure, better roads, manufacturing capabilities. We are confident to get 100% international market.
Mr Gadkari also spoke about department’s plan on connectivity of ports, airports, industrial clusters and big industries, this will enable to reduce the logistics cost. There was a plan to develop the waterways sea transport, Road infrastructure, railway infrastructure and aviation. The Government was already in the process of creating a lot of airports - the number is at least two times, railway also have a big program of expansion. A number of initiatives was done towards the dream of the Hon’ble Prime Minister to make India a 5 trillion economy and 100 lakh crore of investment will be the important target of the Indian government in the next 5 years.
Mr Gadkari said that it is the time for all to prepare good infrastructure for industry in a way by which we export more and ensure quality products with international standards. To do this he requested that the industry should give priority for making more research and find solutions which are available within India. By this way, the country will move closer to the vision of Make in India, Made in India. He said, he sincerely believes that it is very important to get into digitalization, which many international countries are already moving towards. Innovation and Technology will play an important role for the development of our country to be self-reliant - Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.
Mr Gadkari also mentioned about the 22 Green Express Highway which is being constructed for better mobility and logistics. He spoke of the Delhi - Mumbai express Highway, wherein presently a truck takes three to four days’ time to reach and with the new corridors it will just take only 28 hours.
Mr Gadkari also mentioned of his request to the Finance Ministry that those industries who would like to make their technology centre, training centre and research center in India from the income tax point of view whether the Ministry would be in position to give some more support to such companies as these measure can inspire and motivate such companies for making more research , more new innovations in India which will be very important.
On a question on road construction to accelerate from the present 30 km to 60 km a day, Mr Gadkari said that there was a need to invest more on technology to upgrade. Also there was a crunch on the availability of funds and the Government is actively finding avenues to ensure that the projects are not delayed. The Government is also keen to attract Foreign Investment and requested the stakeholders to help mobilize investment through FDI in Construction Sector.
On the Development of the Components Industry in India in the context of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Mr Gadkari responded as follows
Government was working to increase the duty on component imports and Industry should focus on manufacturing components locally under Make in India scheme.
Industry should collaborate with IIT’s and Engineering Institutes to setup Technology Centres.
Building, land and capital Investment to be provided by Industry partner and government will provide support.
With such technology centres, Industry can do skill training, provide jobs to people and do research further.
Develop components and its material with the help of Technology Centres, IIT’s and Engineering colleges.
Government was working to create a scheme to promote technology centres under MSME scheme
Speaking at the session Mr T V Narendran, President Designate, CII and CEO & Managing Director, Tata Steel Limited spoke of the last 2 to 3 months which has been challenging. The government has had in the last couple of years continued focus on long term competitiveness , long term ease of doing business and policy reforms that continue despite all the challenges is something that CII greatly appreciates. The MSME sector was also very important part of any economic activity. The Construction sector in many ways, a number of MSME’s are connected to the infrastructure spend of the government to the construction industry and construction again is the backbone of any economic activity particularly developing countries.
Mr Narendran also mentioned about the usage of Steel in construction industry, 60% consumption goes to the construction sector whether it is residential or commercial or infrastructure or industrial , so he said that it becomes a very important sector and guide India , especially with the kind of focus on infrastructure , there was a great opportunity for construction companies in India, especially with virtual event is trying to showcase the different technologies that can be used to build a Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
Mr Narendran also complimented a lot of member companies who are participating as a lot of them manufacture capital equipment manufacturing in India and construction equipment manufacturers who are making in India was something that really needs to be encouraged . Secondly the use of digital initiatives is of utmost importance and the importance is more profoundly understood in the last 3 months . The virtual Exhibition on Construction Equipment is also demonstrating that digital becomes a way of life and it also helps us improve our effectiveness.
Mr Vipin Sondhi, Chairman CII Trade Fairs Council and Managing Director & CEO, Ashok Leyland spoke about CII virtual platforms and it’s key features. While mentioning about the number of virtual events organized by CII over the last four months , he mentioned that 3,578 webinars wherein 2.96 lakhs delegates have participated since the beginning of the lockdown. A number of digital exhibitions have been organised with over 700 exhibitors and 35,000 visitors participating. He spoke of the positive Business Continuity that CII virtual platforms were creating during the Covid-19 disruptions.
DiECE 2020 - India’s Only Virtual Exhibition Platform for the Construction Equipment Industry organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will demonstrate the role of Virtual Platform Showcase and Sourcing of Construction Technology for infrastructure growth in the country. The event to be held for 3 months starting from 18th August till 17th November 2020. More than 130 participants under 30 different product categories showcasing 1000 plus products are on display. The virtual Expo which is hosted on the CIIHive platform will feature Exhibitions, Conferences, Seminar and B2B meetings to a sizeable audience is expected to attract 7500 buyers over the next 12 weeks. Buyers can freely access the virtual exhibition at their comfort.
In the concluding remarks Mr Sandeep Singh, President , ICEMA, Chairman, CII Karnataka State Council and Managing Director, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd thanked Hon’ble Minister for his vision statement and the government investment on the infrastructure development. From 1,00,000 lakh Crore on National Infrastructure Pipeline, 5 Lakh Crore on Road Projects, 22 Green express Highway were all very good opportunities for construction equipment manufacturers and the support industries.
19 August 2020
New Delhi