PM Modi inaugurates commerce ministry's new premises 'Vanijya Bhawan'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated the new premises of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry - 'Vanijya Bhawan'. Besides, Modi also launched a new portal called NIRYAT-- a one-stop place for all info needed for India's foreign trade.

During the inaugural ceremony, Modi said this new premise and the portal are a symbol of both physical and digital infrastructure, and it would reflect India's aspiration of 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat' or a self-reliant India. He went on to say that providing 'Ease of Access' to citizens is India's priority, and access to government policy formulations and banking to the citizens were the key facets of the past 8 years' governance model.

Further, the benefits of the government schemes reaching all sections of people, without any form of discrimination, can only ensure 'Sabka Vikas' or welfare for all, he said. Giving reference to the previous governments, he said that projects were earlier announced for the sake of "political interest" but there were no guarantees about the completion of such projects.

"They were not serious about the completion of the projects. This new building (getting completed on time) is an example of how we have changed the mindset," Modi said. Government's projects completed on time, and schemes reaching their goals are nothing but giving respect to the taxpayers of the country, he said.

"When government projects complete on time and schemes reach target are nothing but giving respect to the country's taxpayers. Under PM Gati Shakti national master plan, we now have a modern platform...Keeping into consideration the aspirations of new India, this building will have to give a push to all aspects of development," Modi said. Further, he reiterated that this government has removed over 32,000 non-essential compliances, which is key to promoting 'Ease of Doing Business' in the country.

Talking about the GeM portal, a short form of one-stop Government e-Market Place, in which 45 lakh small businesses are currently registered, he said order value in the platform has risen from Rs 9,000 crore to now over Rs 2.25 lakh crore. Counting on the benefits of the ease of doing business in the country, he said there were less than 500 registered FinTech start-ups in the country till 4 years ago, which has now risen to over 2,300.

During the same period, recognised start-ups per year have risen from 8,000 to over 15,000 units. Moreover, he added that exports are vital to a country's progress and initiatives like 'Vocal for Local' have also accelerated the country's exports, he said. Despite global disruptions last year, India exported a total of $670 billion or Rs 50 lakh crores.

In that context, Modi urged the exporters to not just set a short-term export target but a long-term as well, that too with a proper roadmap to reach the feat, citing that exports play a crucial role for developing nation to become a developed one. In the last eight years, India has also been continuously increasing its exports, achieving export goals. Better policies to increase exports, ease the process, and take products to new markets have helped a lot, he added.