Centre Consults Large Corporates, MSMEs To Slay Slowdown

In a two-pronged strategy to boost private investment as well as generate jobs, the Centre has launched a mega out-reach programme to understand and resolve the issues being faced by large corporates on one hand and MSMEs on the other.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has been in dialogue with 25 large corporates and 25 MSMEs groups for the past one month to understand their concerns.

The out-reach effort under -- Project Management Cell -- aims to understand challenges, such as regulations and liquidity conditions, faced by corporates in expanding their operations.

Top corporate leaders of Tata Group, Wipro and Bharti Group have met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal till now.

Consultation meets with MSME groups have also been held with the minister.

The Centre envisages MSME sector to play a major role in employment generation.

Besides, Goyal will meet representatives from aviation, road, textiles, food processing, renewable energy, tourism and mining industries along with these sector's concerned ministries.

"It's a two-pronged strategy, whereby, we are trying to understand and address the issues being faced by corporates in expanding operations and enhancing their investments," a senior ministry official told IANS.

"On the other hand, we have taken into account the problems being faced by the MSMEs, which are job generating engine and the backbone of any economy."

Consequently, Mr Goyal in collaboration with other ministers, hopes to boost private investment leading to demand augmentation, thereby, reversing the cycle of de-growth.

At present, the government expects the private sector to play a major role in employment generation, as it plans to exit from various PSUs and hand over the management control to strategic investors.

The development assumes significance as the economy at the present juncture faces -- Stagflation -- an economic trend marked by rising inflation and falling GDP growth rate.

Especially alarming is the fact that subdued consumption trend, massive contraction in manufacturing, agriculture and mining activities have pulled India's GDP growth rate down to 4.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2019-20.

This is the slowest GDP growth rate in around six years. The growth on a year-on-year basis during Q2 2018-19 stood at 7 per cent.

Economy watchers have blamed subdued demand, high taxation, low job creation, stagnant wages and stressed rural sector for creating the economic slowdown.

Sectors such as automobile, consumer durables and capital goods have come under heavy pressure due to the slowdown.