Widening gap between the world and China is a golden opportunity for Indi

New Delhi: Coronavirus pandemic has negated the Chinese image, and the world is trying to distance itself from China. This has created a golden opportunity for India. This is the right time to work with multinational companies. Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Industries, Nitin Gadkari, expressed confidence that the western countries will have an encouraging response towards India. It was revealed last week that a thousand multinational companies, deciding to withdraw from China, are keen to set up their plants in India and are at different levels of talks with the government. This statement made by Union Minister Gadkari becomes significant against this background.

Possibilities are being predicted that the growth rate of the Indian economy will reduce drastically because of the lockdown imposed during this Coronavirus pandemic. But Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that there is no need to worry too much and expressed confidence while talking to a news agency that the Indian economy will soon be back on the track of progress. Gadkari said ‘The world is distancing itself from China, and this is proving to be beneficial for India. We will convert the crisis into an opportunity. This is the right time to start new projects with foreign companies.’ Gadkari underlined ‘Japan has offered a package of up to USD 2 billion for Japanese companies to move out of China. I expect this negativity for China to benefit India. India shares excellent relations with Japan, and the Indian government is making all possible efforts to bring foreign investments.’ India will get a very good response from western countries. Gadkari said that he expected a good response, especially from the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and France. Gadkari pointed out that India becomes a preferred destination because of skilled labour and the low cost of land acquisition.

Meanwhile, the biggest problem faced by the Indian economy is the lack of liquidity. Therefore, the target for highways and road-building has been doubled for this year and instructions have been issued to make expeditious payments to the contractors. Gadkari said that this decision was taken to increase the liquidity in the Indian economy. Before this, on Friday, he clarified that the government undertakings would release the pending arrears of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). A provision of ₹1 trillion is being made for this purpose. Coronavirus has affected the SMEs. Therefore, these measures will provide some relief to the sector and increase the liquidity in the market.