Nitin Gadkari asks industry to take health precautions

Hyderabad: Union Minister for MSME, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari called upon Industry to ensure following all health precautions as they resume works in the areas allowed by Govt Interacting with representatives of Bharat Chamber Of Commerce, enterprises from various sectors, media and other stakeholders on” Post COVID 19: Challenges and New Opportunities in India” via video conferencing the Union Minister Gadkari called upon the industry that while the government has allowed certain industry sectors to start functioning, it is also needed to be ensured by industries that necessary preventive measures are taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  He emphasized the usage of PPE (masks, sanitizer, gloves, etc) and advised to maintain social distancing while resuming the offices/business operations. Industries should also arrange shelter and food for the laborer at the worksite and focus on preventive measures and business activities simultaneously.
He further mentioned that the highways and ports have started functioning and over the period of time the operations will be on track. Regarding the revival of the MSME sector, the Minister said that special focus towards export enhancement is the need of the hour and necessary practices shall be adopted to reduce power cost, logistics cost, and production cost to become competitive in the global market.  He stressed that there is also a need to focus on import substitution to replace foreign imports with domestic production. He urged enterprises to make use of technology and mentioned that research, innovation, and quality improvement can play a major role in industrial development.
The Minister also stated that the Government of Japan has offered a special package to their industry for taking out their investments from China and move elsewhere. He opined that this is an opportunity for India and should be grabbed.