Insisting that the Covid-19 crisis should be turned into an opportunity to create an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Kolkata: Insisting that the Covid-19 crisis should be turned into an opportunity to create an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said this is the time to make bold decisions and investments.

Addressing the 95th annual plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata through video conference, he said, steps have to be taken to ensure that products imported from abroad are manufactured in the country.

Narendra Modi"In the last five-six years, India's goal of self- reliance has been paramount in the policy and practice of the country. The Covid-19 crisis gave us lessons on how to speed up efforts in that direction...This is not the time for a conservative approach; this is time for bold decisions and investments.

"This also is the time to move from command and control economy to plug-and-play and to build a competitive global supply chain." he said.

Narendra Modi"India is fighting multiple challenges along with Covid-19, including floods, locust attack, earthquakes...We have to turn crises into opportunity for creating an Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat and take steps to ensure that products which we import from elsewhere are manufactured in India," Modi said.

The prime minister also said that the country has already ushered in several reforms like changing the definition of MSMEs, decriminalising certain things (under the Companies Act), introducing Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, bringing in more competition in coal mining, altering the APMC and the Essential Commodities Act.