New policy to focus on supply-chain linkages: Prabhu

The government is coming out with a new industrial policy that will link the country with the global supply chain that will be mutually beneficial, commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu said on Saturday.

Prabhu, who also handles the aviation ministry said, businesses can only grow when there are partnerships among several other geographies.

Comments come amidst continuous fall in merchandise exports from the country and the growing threats to global trade and even questions being raised about the existence of the global trade body WTO after the US administration under Donald Trump has opened a slew of anti-trade practices against most of its trading partners, including us.

The trade war between the US, the world's largest consumer, and the world's largest producer China has cast a pall of gloom over global economic growth.

"Manufacturing cannot happen end-to-end only in one geography; it has to be part of a global value- chain, global supply chain. And that is why we are discussing and finalised from my ministry side, a new industrial policy that's awaiting Cabinet approval, which focuses developing mutually beneficial value chain and supply-chain," Prabhu said while addressing an event organised by industry lobby CII.

It is especially important when we are working towards a USD 10-trillion economy by 2035 when we see great opportunities for all countries to participate. Because no country can grow in isolation, he added.

"So if we were to have a USD 1-trillion manufacturing GDP, a good part of that could be sourced and worked with so many other countries," he said.

In the services sector, which is the key export segment for the nation worth over billions of dollars, Prabhu said 12 sectors have been identified.a

On agriculture, he said, the government has already come out with an agriculture export policy, which has helped the farm economy fare better. "We have already worked out on plans which are mutually beneficial where we produce under the quality control regime of the importing countries."

Further, the minister said, the government has prepared a plan that each district will grow by 3-4 per cent more than the normal growth to help the overall economy clock double-digits growth.

"Our strategy is grass-roots development, from grassroots to global, manufacturing to services, farming to value-added and from FDI to investment by India in other countries, is the objective of our trade policy," he said.