Convocation Address by Sh. YASHWANT SINHA, Hon'ble Union Finance Minister, Govt. Of India on 27^th July,1999

I have also proposed a National Fund for helping innovators all over the country. To me, entrepreneurs are innovators par excellence. I am sure the entrepreneurs will take advantage of this fund which has an initial corpus of Rs. 20 crore and will help build a national register of innovations, mobilize intellectual property protection, set-up incubators for converting innovations undertaken by entrepreneurs into viable business opportunities.

I would like to mention that the Govt. is determined to create an enabling environment for allowing entrepreneurs wide scope to use their skills. Government has implemented measures to create a level playing field for domestic entrepreneurs and promote competition. A few of these measures are – reducing the number of industries coming under the purview of compulsory licensing and the public sector, proposing review and amendment of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act and the MRTP Act and putting in place a new competition policy. We are expanding the list of industries eligible for automatic approval of foreign investment, proposing to establish a Foreign Investment Implementation Authority, deciding on large scale disinvestment of Government holding in selected Public Sector Enterprises, rationalising the indirect tax structure by reducing the rates of excise and customs, providing major fiscal incentives to infrastructure and housing sectors, taking concrete steps for improving regulation and ensuring transparency in the capital market etc.

The process of liberalisation is irreversible and more reforms will be taken up in future. But I would like to emphasise the role that Government envisages for itself in the new growth process. It would be more of a “facilitator”. Greater resources and participation of the Government would be directed towards the social sectors with the objective to positively effect literacy, health, drinking water, sanitation, housing and human development as a whole. The onus of exploiting the benefits of the new policies and reforms in general is upon the industry and its entrepreneurs. They must come forward to reap the advantage of a market-friendly and pro-business policy of the Govt.

I would now like to touch upon an area which, I believe, shall be of special significance to the entrepreneurs and managers of tomorrow. The small scale sector is a vital segment of our industry. This sector has not only diversified the pattern of industrial growth but has also created ample employment opportunities for the skilled labour force of the country. Small scale has been a priority for the Government and several measures have been announced for promoting this sector. These include, increasing the composite loan limit for the SSIs, opening of more specialised SSI bank branches, awarding greater powers to bank managers for quick disposal of credit applications, proposal to launch a new credit insurance scheme for the SSI sector, consideration of lending by banks to NBFCs for purposes of on-lending to the SSI sector as priority lending, review of the impact of Delayed Payments Act, dereservation of selected items reserved for exclusive manufacture by the SSIs etc.

Continue..

©2008 This website designed and developed by Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad