Govt should focus on investment, infra in next Union Budget: CII chief

He said MNREGA support should continue, pointing out that there have been massive job losses in the hospitality, travel, and tourism sectors, and added that the government should look into how it can further help the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

“Secondly, MNREGA has been very useful to make sure that impact is mitigated on people at the lower levels. We also need to look at sectors which are significantly impacted post-COVID like hospitality, travel and tourism, restaurants etc, so what is it that we can do for those sectors to help those sectors come back?" he said. "There are some MSMEs which have done well but there are some who have struggled, so what is it that we can do to help the MSMEs? And all this impacts jobs and incomes and that has an impact on consumption."

He also pushed for more focus on building or improving health infrastructure as, according to Narendran, the out-of-pocket expense for medical treatment is still high.

"People have lost jobs. So there is shrinkage of income and on the other side health-related expenditure has gone up. The government should continue to invest in health infrastructure -- today it is 1.3 percent of GDP, but we need to get closer to 3 percent so that the out-of-pocket expenses on healthcare brought down. We need to improve the health infrastructure. Across the country basic healthcare should be available and government needs to set aside money for that," he said.

He suggested floating something on the lines of an urban employment scheme. "The impact of job losses have hit the lower socio-economic strata. If we can support them, get incomes back for them, that will improve consumption," He said.

Narendra also said India needs to focus beyond traditional market of exports, saying such a move will help the country achieve $400 billion in exports faster. "We need to broadbase export markets; we are over-reliant on the United States for exports," he said.

He praised the government's product-linked incentive (PLI) schemes saying they have brought investments in electronic manufacturing. "It is good that the government is pouring money into technology intensive sectors and India could soon become an exporter of mobile phones," he said.

Going forward, he said metals and mining will be prime sectors for investment, while COVID-19 and interest rates continue to be the top risks. "We need to make sure local industries are not disadvantaged; we need more job creators--the startup ecosystem is doing just that," he said.

He said India is a growing market for steel, and that the government has deleveraged and invested very prudently.