The Hindu Business Line : Policy review mooted to make India global sourcing hub

``We need to further review the policy environment and see how the export of manufactured products from India can be stepped up from its present level of about 76 per cent,'' the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr E.V.K.S. Elangovan, said at a seminar on Indian Manufacturing organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here.

The Minister said he believed that India would see a steep increase in outsourcing opportunities in the days to come.

"There are many global companies who are looking at lower cost, but higher quality suppliers for their components and sub-assemblies. India, with its diverse manufacturing base, its pool of trained manpower and raw material resources, can become an integral part of the global manufacturing chain as is the case of IT."

He, however, said that Indian manufacturing needed to focus on both quality and cost. "We are aware that India's inadequate infrastructure imposes higher power and transport costs," he said.

The Minister also said export procedures in the country would be simplified to cut transaction costs. "My Ministry is fully aware of the difficulties being experienced and we have been taking action to reduce and simplify the procedures required for exports," he said.

Mr Elangovan also called upon the manufacturing companies to improve their technology and processes to match global benchmarks and face the competitive pressures, which are emerging in terms of cost, quality and imports.

Earlier, CII's Manufacturing Council Chairman, Mr Rajesh V. Shah, said that India cannot have an 8 per cent GDP growth only on the basis of services sector growth. Industrial growth in India will have to increase from its present levels to 13 per cent in 2 years and stabilise at around 11 per cent per annum thereafter, if India was to achieve an 8 per cent growth.

The Chairman of CII National Committee on Capital Goods and Engineering Industry, Mr Sumit Mazumder, in his remarks, also said that there is a need to upgrade technology and focus in cost reduction, if Indian manufacturing industry had to become competitive.