Sharma assures industry of speedier reforms

Concerned over the continued decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) and the slowdown in factory output, union commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma yesterday assured industry of fast tracking reforms, including those in the FDI sector.

He also gave an assurance that the government would set up a joint task force to address major issues industry and government were faced with.

The joint task force, comprising representatives drawn from industry and government, would be chaired by Sharma and structured to have a regular dialogue between industry and the government.

At the second-tier, the secretary of department of industrial policy and promotion and an industry representative would co-chair the task force. Analysts, economists and a group of experts would also be included in the task force.

These decisions come following an interaction between the minister and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) delegation led by its president B Muthuraman, whi the non executive vice chairman of Tata Steel, in New Delhi yesterday.

The minister and industry are now discussing various related issues including FDI inflows, FDI policy and decline in manufacturing output. According to Sharma dialogue with industry had been taking place but it would be put in a structured format.