India will be a $5 trillion economy: Suresh Prabhu

The Dollar Business Bureau

Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu said on Monday that India will become a $5 trillion dollar economy but it is just a matter of time.

“Trade can only happen once products are manufactured. India must produce and increase the scale of the production to increase its share in the global economy,” Prabhu said, while speaking at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi.

The Minister said that the services sector is also important and will generate jobs. And in this regard, the Government has allocated Rs.5,000 crore toward 12 champion service sectors.

While he believes that services exports will be more than the merchandise exports, Prabhu said that for India to be a $5 trillion dollar economy, manufacturing in the country must also increase.

On the current global scenario Prabhu said, “With the recent measures taken by countries affecting global trade, we might be living in a new normal. In recent times, people are questioning globalisation and different definitions of globalisation are emerging.”

He agreed that India must face the challenge in this situation, but said, “India should convert it to an opportunity and must take the lead and take advantage of globalisation.”

On the recently concluded 11th WTO Ministerial in New Delhi, Prabhu said that the global community appreciated the efforts taken by India in organising the Mini Ministerial.

Underlining the importance of standards in trade, the Minister said that his Ministry is working on creating standards for all the products.

“The Commerce Ministry is working on bettering ease of doing business at the district level,” he added.

In the aviation sector, Prabhu said that there exists a lot of opportunities for growth in air cargo.

In the wake of rising demand for aviation in India, there exists an opportunity for the growth of aerospace manufacturing too, he said.

While addressing the gathering, Shobana Kamineni, President, CII mentioned that the new industrial policy is to be unveiled shortly. There are new ways emerging on how business is being done in India.

“New and emerging areas such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 will be part of the policy,” she said.

She also stressed that India needs to be part of Global Value Chains (GVCs) and the global world to become a 5 trillion dollar economy. She also mentioned that we must strive to see small industry grow to medium industry and medium industry to large.