PLI scheme going under utilised, says Niti Aayog vice chairman

Only three sectors are functioning under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme of the 13 sectors for which the government has allotted Rs 1.95 lakh crores, Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar has said. He said India required to raise its investment from below 30% of GDP to35-40% of GDP and exports as a share of GDP must go up as has been in China from 5% of its GDP to 28% of its GDP.

He stressed that the share of manufacturing in GDP should increase and limiting manufacturing only to small scale would not suffice.

Instead it (manufacturing) must emerge to be globally competitive with a condition of trust build between the government and the private sector. While the government should continue removing regulatory hurdles, the private sector should demonstrate self regulation as good faith to evolve as a responsible partner for growth, Kumar said at an interactive session of the MCC Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata.

On the issue of rising input prices, he said it was a global issue and every country was struggling with this problem. But if there were incidences of tax escalations leading to higher prices, the government would look into it.

On agriculture Kumar said, India required to be water efficient since water usage was too high compared to yields.
Given the fragmented pattern of land holding, industrial farming was not an option for India. But India needs to modernise agriculture with more engagement in organic farming.

The Niti Aayog, he said, was looking into coal and other natural resources mining and the reforms recommendations, once implemented, will help in resolve the problems of higher production of natural resources for economic growth.

“If our country can grow at 10-11% per year for the next decades, the per capital income of our country would be $16,000 by 2050,” Kumar said, adding during the 90s , China and India had similar per capita income. China grew at 10% per annum from 1980 to 2010 and it presently has a $14.9 trillion economy as compared to India’s $3trillion economy. This is because after 1991 Indian economy managed to achieve growth rate in the range of 6%, even as the country has the potential to grow at double digit rates.