 "Piyush Goyal")
Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles
The government is looking to liberalise public procurement rules for the production of new and innovative products, in line with its focus on the Make in India programme.
“In government procurement, there could be a few amendments required sectorally. There are certain sectors where the ecosystem takes time to develop. Initially, the value added is less, but gradually, it goes up. We are examining if we can have a roadmap for these sectors so that they could transition to become Class-I or Class-II suppliers,” commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday.
The list of products to be included in the new and innovative products will be ascertained after the inter-ministerial meeting.
“(Based on the industry recommendation) another thing that is being considered is procurement rules for those manufacturers who produce a product for the first time in India. Normally, in procurement, there is a requirement of prior experience. We are looking at means to make them eligible for supply by laboratory testing or other ways,” Goyal said.
These suggestions came up during the minister’s interaction with the CEOs of over 140 production-linked incentive (PLI) beneficiary companies, including Samsung, Reliance Industries, JSW Steel, Dixon, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Daikin, among others.
At present, firms that produce goods, services, or works with at least 50 per cent local content are called Class-I local suppliers. They are given the highest preference in public procurement.
A Class-II local supplier’s goods, services, or works have 20-50 per cent local content. A non-local supplier is one with less than 20 per cent local content. This class is generally the least preferred in public procurement under the Public Procurement Order, unless there are no available Class-I or Class-II local suppliers for a specific requirement.
As far as the progress of the PLI scheme is concerned, investments in the 14 sectors are expected to touch an estimated Rs 2 trillion by next year from Rs 1.46 trillion now.
This has resulted in production/sales worth Rs 12.5 trillion and employment generation of around 9.5 lakh—direct and indirect—which is expected to reach 12 lakh soon.
Exports have exceeded Rs 4 trillion, with substantial contributions from key sectors such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, and food processing.
The government is also fast-tracking all the necessary approvals related to PLI industries and providing handholding support in achieving greater market access, the minister said at the interaction with the CEOs of PLI beneficiaries.
Goyal further urged CEOs to focus on increasing domestic value addition in their products to make India self-reliant.
“During the three-hour-long interaction, CEOs of beneficiary companies shared their perspectives on the PLI schemes, offering valuable insights into their experiences, success stories, and suggestions for improving the schemes’ effectiveness and streamlining implementation,” an official statement said.
First Published: Sep 29 2024 | 7:05 PM IST
