Be 'AtmaNirbhar', aim for global dominance: Piyush Goyal to Indian carmakers

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Railways Piyush Goyal has said that in the auto sector, we should move towards global dominance, in terms of auto components and automobiles.

Addressing the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) annual convention today, he said "We are improving the scale and quality of what we are producing and serving. With this, we are seeing how we can improve competitiveness to engage with the world."

According to an official release, the Minister said that Reciprocity, high quality, affordability and good economies of scale will help us expand our global engagement, Goyal said that Design, Packaging and Brand Buiding- these are 3 pre-requisites for us if we want to offer our products across the world.

He said India is looking at its own domestic capabilities and expansion of its own economic and global engagement.

"India is willing to provide a very facilitated environment. We are engaged with many companies who are looking for more resilient value chains. We have to identify sectors where we have a comparative and competitive edge over other countries. I am sure we will become trusted, reliable partners where countries across the world can look at greater engagement with India", he said.

Calling upon the automotive industry to work together in the spirit of partnership, he said "Ours is a listening Government, and we are delighted to be available to the auto industry to find solutions and work together in partnership to achieve a better future, increase localisation in India & harness export potential on fair terms. When a company works in India, they get a large Indian market."

The Minister said that as we move towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat in the automobile sector, industry's role becomes even more important.

He said the Government is willing to engage as often as required to find solutions for greater global engagement. A focused approach in particular sectors will help us increase our contribution to global supply chains.

Goyal asked the automotive companies present in the country to ask their principles to reduce royalties. He said that reducing this could help the Indian units of these companies to sail through the crisis easily.

He said that the automakers that hold a sizeable chunk of the country's auto market pay millions of dollars as royalty to their parent companies. Reduction in Royalty can help them reduce the cash outflow, bring down the vehicle prices and help in boosting their domestic sales.

Regarding the AatmaNirbhar Bharat-Self-reliant India, Goyal said that the auto industry needs to re-strategise to emerge stronger from the crisis. He said that India is looking at its domestic capabilities and the expansion of capabilities through the AatmaNirbhar Bharat campaign.