India is focusing on reducing any possible supply chain disruptions brought on by the global coronavirus pandemic, the Centre has said.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on 17 March, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri said that the government is keeping abreast of the matter by engaging with export promotion councils and trade bodies.
A press release by the government said that the coronavirus outbreak in China initially impacted the supply chains of those Indian industries which were dependent on China for the import of raw materials, intermediaries and manufacturing components. However, the release added, the Chinese production resumed during the year.
The press release also stated that India is seeking to build resilience in the industries’ supply chains to reduce over-concentration of import sources on account of the pandemic-induced global supply chain shocks. In order to address potential disruptions in their supply chains as well as to secure and transport available inventories from various suppliers, the government has put export promotion councils and trade bodies in touch with the diplomatic missions abroad, the release added.
“The missions facilitated several Business-to-Business virtual meetings to broaden the supply base of the domestic industry”, the press release stated.
Speaking of the Indian pharmaceutical and electronics industry, the release stated, “The Government has also launched schemes such as Production Linked Incentive Schemes (PLIs) to promote domestic manufacturing capacities in critical sectors such as Key Starting Materials/Drug Intermediates, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients apart from electronic components & mobiles etc. These would broaden the base of the supply chains and make products available at competitive prices.”
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