The Hindu Business Line : ‘Rising rupee, inflows hit entire industry, not just exports’

The Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry today discussed the adverse impact of rising rupee on exports and industry, besides the challenges of managing the surge in dollar inflows into the country.

“We are hit by a double barrel of rupee appreciation and continuous dollar inflows... it is a problem not only for exports but also the entire industry,” the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, said after attending the meeting.

MODERNISE EDUCATION

The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, invited Indian industry to come forward with new ideas on how Indian education can be expanded, modernised and made to address the challenge of the future, said a press release.

“We must not become slaves of the past. We need creative thinking and fresh thinking to address the challenges we face in education,” the Prime Minister said while chairing the meeting of Trade and Industry Council. The Prime Minister drew attention to the 11th Plan strategy of giving special attention to education.

He said that expenditure on education is being increased from seven per cent of total Plan outlay in the 10th Plan to 19 per cent in the 11th Plan.

The participants emphasised the need to expand educational and skill development opportunities in India to address the growing shortage of a variety of skills and qualified persons. All participants emphasised the need for a major reform and expansion of Indian education. They sought a policy framework for attracting more private investment in education and to facilitate greater public-private partnership (PPP) in education.

The meeting was also attended by the Finance Minister Mr. P Chidambaram; the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia; the Chairman, Tata group, Mr Ratan Tata; the Chairman of M&M, Mr Keshub Mahindra; the Chiarman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, Mr Mukesh Ambani; Mr R.P. Goenka, Mr Jamshyd Godrej; Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy; the Chiarman of Bajaj Auto, Mr Rahul Bajaj; Chairman and MD, Bharti group, Mr Sunil Mittal; Managing Director & CEO of Hero Cycles, Mr Sunil Munjal; and the Chairman of HDFC, Mr Deepak Parekh.

Later talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function of Sports Goods Export Promotion Council, Mr Nath said the Government was looking at measures to counter the impact of the rising rupee, particularly on labour-intensive sectors.

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