Traders are being encouraged to use, promote and support Indian goods

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said Rs 3 lakh crore credit guarantee provided under ‘Aatmanirbhar’ package for MSME, covers traders also and that decision to open shops in the malls will be taken soon, after taking into account guidelines of the Health Ministry.

Piyush Goyal said this while meeting the representatives of traders associations via video conferencing on Thursday.

He told traders that they should not feel threatened by the e-commerce juggernaut, as the common person has now realized that the brick and mortar ‘Kirana’ neighbourhood shopkeepers only helped them in their hour of crisis.

He said that the government is working on a mechanism to facilitate B2B for the retail traders and providing technical support to them to expand their reach.

The Commerce Minister and Industry Minister said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government has taken transformational initiatives, which will help India become a strong nation.

Regarding other problems of the trader community pertaining to term loans, Mudra loans and other issues, Piyush Goyal said the matter will be taken up with the finance ministry to find a solution.

He said that during the lockdown period, the nation geared itself to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and built capacities. The domestic manufacturing of the protection equipment like masks, sanitizers, gloves, PPE got a boost, health infrastructure was scaled up, and awareness was generated among the people.

The Union Minister said that several indicators show that the economic recovery is on the anvil.

“The power consumption this month is almost at par with the corresponding period last year, Oxygen production has come up. The exports, which went down in April by almost 60%, have started showing an upward trend, and the preliminary figures indicate decline this month will be smaller. The services exports, on the other hand, went up even last month. He indicated that more than the fall in merchandise exports, the imports showed sharper decline last month, lowering the trade deficit,” he said.

The Union Minister called upon the traders to use, promote and support the Indian goods and also exhorted them to work with confidence, boldness and determination, and the success will be there to achieve.

He said that people responded to the Prime Minister’s call to work unitedly to face the unprecedented crisis, by adhering to the government’s guidelines and directions.

“Aarogya Setu has been developed during the period, which acts as a shield, friend and messenger in such crises. People changed their lifestyles and adapted quickly to live, work, study differently under the circumstances,” the Union Minister said.

Piyush Goyal said timely and correct decisions taken by the Prime Minister, and adhered to by the people, have helped the country, as we are in a better position compared to many other nations of the world, with more resources and lesser population.