At the 66th Annual Session of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) in New Delhi,
Goyal he said that India and the US are working together as partners in critical mineral partnership and the Pax Silica initiative so that like-minded, democratic well-meaning and fair-played countries can work together to ensure that no single geography can weaponise trade.
“We are talking to some countries with whom we will be having collaborations and partnerships to promote critical minerals being processed and developed for our requirements…With several of our partners in UK and Europe, we are in dialogue about how we can build resilient supply chains,” Goyal said.
“The US and India are working together as partners in critical mineral partnership and the Pax Silica initiative launched by the United States…so that like-minded, democratic well-meaning and fair-played countries can work together to ensure that no single geography can weaponise trade,”he said.
The minister said that trade deals with the Gulf Cooperation Council and Israel will be finalised once conditions in the region improve and New Delhi is exploring such pacts “to get more access to critical minerals” and ensure “resilient supply chains”.
Gor said that both governments are working towards a fair, reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade relationship, even as the two sides navigate key trade issues.Noting that the two sides had made “real progress” including through the trade understanding reached between their governments, the envoy said the India-US partnership extends beyond trade in goods, with the two countries partnering on “virtually everything under the roof”.
Gor invited Indian companies to invest in the US across manufacturing, R&D and distribution, while calling for fair market access for American suppliers in India and Indian firms in the US.
Gor confirmed that Goyal will travel to the US later this month for the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting. The visit is also expected to provide an opportunity for the two sides to continue discussions on the India-US bilateral trade deal.
GDP, jobs
Goyal criticised opposition parties and former finance secretary Subhash Garg over his remarks on the 7.8% GDP growth, saying he did not know how to ‘compare apples with apples’ and was trying to misguide the people of India.
Goyal said that in this global world of turmoil, India is an oasis in the desert and the country continued to be the fastest-growing amongst large economies of the world.
“The naysayers can say what they want, but 7.8% growth is a reality. When I see on television some of the opposition leaders, even possibly you can throw in along with them a former finance secretary or a former Reserve Bank governor, both of whom could not complete their time in India or in the government and for the right reasons…They are trying to misguide the people of India, comparing a growth rate at an old series with a new series, where the base year itself has changed,” Goyal said.
He added that critics were trying to find shortcomings in the growth figures by asking where are the jobs.
He said the demand for workers was strong, particularly in the textile sector, citing requests from industry in Tiruppur for more workers. “Send me 100,000 people in Tiruppur, we will fill and provide them a job,” he said.
BIS exemption
Goyal said that the government is coming up with a new regulation to exempt high-tech sector companies from mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification for equipment and components needed to set up manufacturing facilities in India.
A company in the semiconductor sector needs around 13,501 components to manufacture a semiconductor chip and the Japanese firms stated that obtaining BIS approvals for such a large number of components is a major challenge, he said.
The challenges in getting the certification were raised by Japanese firms from the semiconductor sector during the recent visit of the minister to Tokyo.
“If they are making a semiconductor of this quality, then surely they will take care of what they are buying. So, we are coming up with a new regulation. In such high-tech sectors, we will exempt all companies from all BIS. They can source from anywhere in the world whatever they want,” Goyal said at the ACMA event, adding that the objective is to ensure timely availability of equipment, goods and services for high-tech companies setting up manufacturing operations in India and support the government’s Make in India initiative.