Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, in his valedictory address at the Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM) symposium in New Delhi today, urged industry leaders and stakeholders to make quality the core of the industry. He urged the participants to make permanent arrangements to ensure quality in product manufacturing and not make it an option for customers.
Piyush Goyal praised IFQM for its industry-led initiatives on quality and said that changing mindset is the biggest hurdle in adopting quality among people in India. Piyush Goyal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always kept quality at the core of the government’s efforts in nation building. He said that the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘zero defect and zero impact’ has been at the forefront for the last two terms to make India a developed nation. He stressed that sustainable manufacturing practices will be the decisive catalyst in the journey to become a developed India by moving towards a green economy. Regarding the Rs 1 lakh crore Research National Research Foundation (ANRF), he said that through this fund, the government will support innovation for the industry so that it can be made a base along with quality for a developed India.
Piyush Goyal pointed out that till 2014 there were only 14 Quality Control Orders (QCOs) covering 106 products, while in the last decade the government has increased their number to 174 QCOs covering 732 products. Emphasizing the impact of quality in the toy manufacturing sector, the Minister said that introducing quality control has led to an increase in exports. He also said that quality should be given utmost importance to make India recognized as a brand globally. Piyush Goyal said that if the product is coming from India then it should have the stamp of quality and our aspiration should be to achieve this goal.
Piyush Goyal invited industry leaders to partner with the government and bring quality to the MSME sector through the QCO ecosystem. To bring the quality at par with global standards, he urged industry leaders to share their best practices and persuade companies with technically proficient workforce to assist the technical standards committees of the government. He also called for partnership of government, industry and academia with quality control regulators to address the difficulties faced by manufacturers in adopting good quality standards.
Piyush Goyal also urged the participants to develop a sense of duty for a developed India and said that competition in the country’s exports will not come from subsidies but from a self-reliant India built on indigenous products. He said that quality is not our job, it is our duty.