NEW DELHI: Defending the government proposal to increase duty on various items, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said it was not done with a sense of protectionism but to promote Make in India. “If we have raised duty it isn’t done with the sense of protectionism. If there are medical devices being made in India, we want to give encouragement under ‘Make in India’, at least for those we don’t want imports flooding the market,” Sitharaman said in her post-Budget meeting with members of Confederation of Indian Industry.
Reiterating about government’s focus towards ‘Make in India’ scheme, the minister said the government has not really abandoned the theme for the sake of ‘Assemble in India’, a buzz which became popular after the Budget announcement. “There is no shift in focus from ‘Make in India’ and the government is using ‘Assemble in India’ as a ground for ‘Make in India’.
The government has not left ‘Make in India’ unattended. Under ‘Make in India’, we want to give a platform to Indian manufacturers,” Sitharaman said. Meanwhile, the Economic Survey had given the emphasis on the term ‘Assemble in India’, after which there was a lot of criticism that the government has abandoned its flagship ‘Make in India’ scheme. The minister requested captains of industry to “shun hesitation” and make investments to drive the country’s economic growth.
“I don’t think in today’s condition it can be just government spending which can pull the economy towards growth… I strongly believe industry today will have to come out of hesitation which you have ..,” she said. The finance minister is going to kick-start a series of post Budget meets with industries, small business, farmers, starting from February 7 to take their feedback and discuss schemes and visions announced in Union Budget.