The scale of manufacturing, coupled with quality and productivity, can make India competitive in several sectors, he said

Startups are going to be the backbone of the new India, said Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Friday, adding that the ecosystem of startups in the country is encouraging innovation, promoting and strengthening new young entrepreneurs, businesses with new ideas and ways of doing business.

Speaking at the FICCI’s annual convention and 93rd Annual General Meeting, he urged the Indian industry to support the startups, by providing them financial support, handholding, opportunities, and mentorship so that they can grow, without resorting to dilution of their stakes to foreign companies at very low valuations at the initial stage itself.

Elaborating on the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission, Goyal said, “The scale of manufacturing, coupled with quality and productivity, can truly make India competitive in several sectors and help move towards an Aatmanirbhar Bharat which is going to be an important building block of the New India.”

He further said that the government will identify areas where India has competitive and comparative advantages, which sectors can become global players and contribute to global trade in a bigger way.

“The tyre and rubber industry ecosystem can become a great business leader in the years to come. We will be encouraging rubber plantation through the support of private investment and the government will give adequate support to the tyre industry so that it can grow and flourish,” he said.

“We have identified another 24 sectors on which work is going on by industry leaders who are working together to come up with actionable agenda to add nearly 200 lakh crores worth of manufacturing in India in the next 10 years. This will certainly add lakhs of job opportunities and create scale & quality in different sectors,” he added.

Speaking about the proposed Brand India initiative, the Minister said that it is an idea where Government and Industry will partner with each other and develop both on the Make in India side and overall Brand India side.

“We are also looking at branding India. It's time now that India demonstrates to the world our leadership position & commitment to quality. Once a product is branded an Indian brand, it should demonstrate to the world that it is of superior quality. Under the Brand India initiative, we will educate consumers both in India & internationally about products that are made in India. We are pushing all industry to certify the Make in India products,” Goyal said.

Talking about the new farm laws, which have led to protests by a number of farmers' unions, the Minister said that the government is committed to the welfare of farmers.

He urged all business leaders and intellectuals associated with FICCI to talk about the benefits of the farm laws, as these laws are for the benefit of all the farmers across the country.

He said that these laws, without changing the past systems, will open up new opportunities to do trade, commerce, and business for the farmers. This will bring more investment in rural India and increase farmers’ income, he said.