The industry body FICCI today hoped that the Budget 2020 – slotted for early February – will lay the roadmap for India to become a $5 trillion economy.

Commerce and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal urged the Indian industry to work together in a globally competitive work even if for bigger players that means taking small risks.

Citing an example, Goyal said large Indian steel manufacturers should supply steel to smaller exporters from India at “international prices”. Some Indian exporters require as low as 1 million steel a year.

For the large steel manufacturers in India, Goyal spoke about Japan, which does not allow India to export “even 1 kg of steel”.

Indicating that Japanese firms cite “quality issues”, Goyal also said that firms like Suzuki and Toyota can use the same steel in India (and do not face such quality issues).

The Commerce Minister also asked the industry to share the knowledge regarding non-tariff barriers used by other countries so that India can take them forward and flag them.

Advance payment

Referring to bankers not lending enough money to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Goyal asked why the large industry players cannot pay advance to their suppliers.

If the large industry players pay advance to the smaller suppliers for seven-eight months, then banks will also start extending loans to smaller suppliers, Goyal said, speaking at the annual convention of FICCI.

Referring to FICCI’s point about government being the largest litigant, Goyal said that government is looking at moving towards a “compounding system”.