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New Delhi : Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on August 27, 2020, held virtual meeting with the industry ministers of states, UT administrators, and senior officers of the central and State Governments. The issues of pushing industrial manufacturing in the country, attracting investments, pushing the approach of ‘One District One Product’ (ODOP), and promoting a National Movement Towards ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ were discussed at the meeting.
Goyal e-launched the National GIS-enabled Land Bank system (https://iis.ncog.gov.in/parks). The system is being developed by integration of Industrial Information System (IIS) with State GIS Systems. The Project was launched on August 27 for 6 states. Launching the system, Goyal expressed confidence that other States/UTs will be onboarded by December 2020. He said that this is a prototype only and will be developed further with inputs from states to make it an effective and transparent mechanism of land identification and procurement, according to a PIB release.
IIS portal is a GIS-enabled database of industrial areas/clusters across the states. More than 3,300 industrial parks across 31 States/UTs covering about 4,75,000 hectare land have been mapped on the System.
In his address, Goyal called upon the states to collectively work in the spirit of ‘Team India’ to enhance industrial activity in the country, attract investment and provide a better life to 1.3 billion people of India, and better prospects for the coming generations. He said that Aatamnirbhar Bharat, a self-reliant country, has to increase engagement with the world, from the position of confidence and strength.
Goyal called upon the states to adopt the Public Procurement Policy-Make in India Order issued by the Centre. He said that it is an effective tool to achieve Aatamnirbhar Bharat and boost local manufacturing. Under this, No Global Tender Enquiry is permitted for procurements of less than Rs 200 crore. Bidders with beneficial ownership /belonging to countries sharing land border with India, will be able to participate in Government procurements only after a mandatory registration based on clearances given by MEA, MHA & Procuring Ministries.
He also stressed on developing a single-window system, which could be One-stop digital platform to obtain all requisite central and state clearances/approvals required to start business operations in India. This could eliminate the need for investors to visit multiple platforms/offices to gather information and obtain clearances from different stakeholders. Goyal said that there could be a single application form which could entail Single-time upload of all relevant information and documents. He said that even the local bodies should also be involved in this system and a notion of Deemed approval can be adopted to make the system effective.
On the approach of ‘One District One Product’ (ODOP), Goyal said that this could help in making India a Manufacturing Powerhouse. He said that every district has some speciality, strengths or uniqueness, and ODOP could be a transformational step forward realising the true potential of a district, fuel economic growth and generate employment and rural entrepreneurship.
On the expectations from State Governments for implementation of Agri Export Policy, Goyal said that only 14 States have finalised Action Plans and called upon others to finalise their action plans. On the issue of Value Addition in Exports, Goyal said that India’s exports bucket presently has a large share of primary products (Iron ore, minerals, etc.) and low value addition products. He stressed on the need for the States to incentivise value addition activity in not only Agri but also industrial products.