Piyush Goyal Urges Industry to Tap Rs 1 Lakh Cr ANRF

New Delhi: Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday urged the industry to utilise Rs 1 lakh crore Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) fund to foster innovation and create a research based ecosystem in the country. "The initiative will help India develop the research and development ecosystem and will evince interest from the industry leaders," he said.

In his keynote address at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FICCI) event here, Mr Goyal said that the talented youth should also be tuned to the mindset of experimenting and developing new ideas under this government initiative. He also urged the participants to provide suggestions in making the processes to get funds outcome oriented and time efficient.

Emphasising the need to raise quality standards in the country, the minister urged FICCI to tap into its technical committees and appoint a representative from every industry to ensure standards are maintained. "This way, quality standards will be more practical, and useful and will help India be recognised as a quality producer of goods and services. India will not only be a trusted partner but also a provider of quality goods," he said.

Mr Goyal also urged the industry leaders to play a more proactive role and work closely with the government in their agenda to reduce compliance burdens and decriminalise laws detrimental to businesses which will lead to improvement in ‘Ease of Doing Business’. "Bringing in private sector institutions to be part of the industry academia government partnership in fostering innovation and collaboration with the industry to meet the needs of the people and spur exports," he added.