New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) People indulging in wrongdoing will be punished as there is no law in the country to protect either big industrialists or politicians, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament on Thursday.
Responding to the debate on the Demands for Grants of the Commerce and Industry Ministry in the Lok Sabha, Goyal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi got huge mandate from people as he does not hesitate to take actions if some big people indulge in wrong practices.
The minister said that a member in the House has stated that several raids are happening in the country and due to that the industry is not investing in the country.
“I am amazed…I do not understand the relation between raids and investments…Is there any provision or law in the country that if you are a big politician or a big industrialist, action would not be taken for their wrongdoings…Action will be taken….Jo galat kaam karega wo saja bhugtega uske liye (One who does wrong will be punished for that),” he said.
NCP leader Supriya Sule on Wednesday had slammed the government over the raids by investigating agencies on industrialists and claimed that several restrain themselves from speaking openly about issues bothering them.
BSP member Danish Ali has said that an atmosphere of fear was prevailing in the country and industry leaders refrain from speaking out freely about their concerns.
The Income Tax Department on Wednesday conducted raids at multiple premises of Hero Motorcorp as part of a tax evasion investigation against the country’s largest two-wheeler automobiles manufacturer.
Goyal also said that the high level of foreign direct investments (FDI) coming into the country reflects the growing confidence of global investors for India.
“India is the destination,” he said, adding there is no better destination than India to invest.
FDI into the country is recording high growth year after year and that is helping in further strengthening the country’s forex reserves and economy, he said.
On exports, he said that India has crossed the USD 400 billion (Rs 30 lakh crore) target and sectors like agriculture have registered healthy growth rates.
Agri exports have reached USD 50 billion and these will increase further, he said adding “picture abhi baaki hai (picture is still remaining)”.
Addressing to an issue raised by some members that exports are increasing due to high commodity prices, Goyal said that several commodities like auto, gems and jewellery, rice, meat, and carpets are recording growth in both value and volume terms.
Petroleum prices are high, so obviously it would have an effect on exports, he said.
The minister also urged states to procure goods and services from government e-market (GeM) place portal as it helps in saving costs.
The portal, he said, has achieved an order value of Rs 1 lakh crore in a single year.
Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal was launched in August 2016 for online purchases of goods and services by all central government ministries and departments.
On startups, he said that the government is taking steps to support them and over 65,000 are registered with the ministry.
Further, he said that the ministry has taken steps to strengthen intellectual property rights (IPR) regime in the country.
During 1940 to 2015, only 11 lakh trademark registrations were granted, while in the last five years 14 lakh such registrations were granted, he informed.
In 2013-14, 4,227 patents were granted which has increased to 28,390 in 2020-21, he added.
