New Delhi, March 3 Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday emphasized the need for India to become self-reliant in the capital goods sector, stating that areas such as container manufacturing can significantly support the country's export and import trade.
Addressing a post-Budget webinar on manufacturing, industrial upgrade, and strategic sectors, he said there is a need to rapidly promote the capital goods segment, as it can unlock nearly ₹2.5 lakh crore of inventory from CPSEs.
He said these were some of the major suggestions being made during deliberations in three sub-groups.
Some of the key takeaways from these deliberations include the need for talent and supplier confidence for a full-fledged semiconductor 2.0; capital equipment, material localization, and specifically skill development for the electronics components sector.
Goyal said Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh spoke extensively about machine manufacturing in India, and "it is high time we recognize the need to become self-sufficient in our requirements of capital goods."
India's machine tool imports grew by 15 per cent to USD 5.43 billion during April-January 2025-26. During the period, the country's imports of machinery, electrical, and non-electrical goods increased by 14.21 per cent to USD 50.8 billion.
Other suggestions included the need for plug-and-play infrastructure and predictable clearances to address import gaps in chemical parks; rapid promotion of the capital goods sector; for rare earth corridors, integration of mining to manufacturing; and the demand for the Biopharma Shakti scheme.
He added that the textiles sector needs global scale, and there is a need to move from cotton to MMF (man-made fibre).
"We must look at digital handloom platforms to promote our handloom and handicraft sector. I think now we need to move from plans to outcomes and from discussions to action on the ground," Goyal said, adding that things like container manufacturing, close to the ports, can really promote India's export-import business.
In the Union Budget, the government proposed three new dedicated Chemical Parks, and a scheme to revive 200 legacy industrial clusters.
The minister added that several sector-wise priorities have also emerged with greater clarity.
These include process streamlining for speedy implementation; academia links skilling to create globally competitive talent; flexible land allocation to unlock investments; sustainability solutions such as addressing textile water usage and reuse of that water; and innovative public-private partnerships or special purpose vehicle models to harness the strengths of government, private sector, and state partnerships.