Increase Investment On R&D: Piyush Goyal To Auto Component Industry

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Monday asked the auto component industry to focus on manufacturing high quality products and increase investments on research activities to promote the growth of the sector. "Focus on quality will have to be the mantra" of all the auto complements makers in the days to come, "because clearly if we have to make mark for ourselves both in the country and in the world market, it can not be possible unless we really make quality the very mantra of our activities and our business," he said here at an event.

Goyal said that a green ecosystem in manufacturing activities, and investments on innovation and R&D would also help in increasing the country's exports. "The sectors that have cutting-edge technology, provide employment, and boost startups, need more R&D spending, like pharma and auto Industry," the minister said. He added that Indians can provide solutions to the world, rather than being dependent on it.

Citing the example of American firm Tesla, he said that they get value for their products because they are always a step ahead in terms of design, quality, pricing and sustainability. Indian auto components makers should come up with new sews and products and should not be dependent on R&D of western world, he said. He also said that the industry can also look at tapping huge opportunities that exist in the Indian defence sector. On containing duplicate products in the market, Goyal suggested the industry to raise its voice against those goods and increase consumer awareness about original items and its benefits.

Further, the commerce minister said that the big domestic companies should help small firms and their suppliers in their growth path. He said that firms in Korea and Japan always buy supplies like steel and paints from their domestic companies and support and hand hold their vendors. "When they (Japanese and Korean firms) go out and manufacture in other countries as some of them do in India too, they take their value chain along with them. Initially importing goods and when they need to indigenise, they bring those same companies to come and indigenise them in the new country. Why can India not plan in a similar manner?

"Why can we not support each other... I would urge all, let's go down to tier 1, 2 and 3 cities suppliers within our ecosystem. Let's see what hand holding they require. Can the big companies upper the small companies," he asked. He also asked big firms to pay vendors' payments on time.