Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, on Monday said the banking sector should facilitate foreign investments in the country so that the economy can grow faster. Only manufacturing can provide the required jobs to the people, Sharma said.
“Close to 100 million jobs will be required in the country. There will be more than 220 million young Indian joining the workforce by 2023,” he noted.
Sharma rued the fact that India has just one industrial township in Jamshedpur post-Independence. “We want 12 such cities to come up; the Cabinet has already approved a policy regarding the same in October last year.”
The government will fund trunk infrastructure in these cities which will be as big as 600 to 900 km, he said.
He confessed that current account deficit was a worry and added that even the cost of import bills going up are a matter of concern because of imports of petrol and gas have become very expensive.
He also said that CRR (cash reserve ratio) is an issue. “Sometimes I am not in agreement with those who believe in stifling liquidity to challenge inflation. Liquidity must remain and credit must be available to the industry.”
Saying that the Indian banking industry has evolved over decades and have kept a steady and right course, Sharma said, “In today’s India, two thirds of capital assets are with public sector banks, but in the recent years private banking has grown phenomenally. India has the potential to grow to $20 trillion and become the third largest banking industry in the world.