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New Delhi , Jan. 7

THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Thursday asked the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) to come up with ideas that can help Indian industry in becoming globally competitive and at the same time generate employment in the country.

Addressing members of NMCC here, Dr Singh said that Indian industry should be prepared for lower tariffs and think in terms of world scale production facilities.

The Prime Minister also urged Indian industry to think big and think into the future. Dr Singh said that he was concerned that not too many Indians were thinking creatively about the future possibilities. He hoped that the NMCC would motivate such thinking in the country especially in the industrial sector.

Meanwhile, the NMCC intends to come up with a long-term strategy paper on manufacturing. The elements that would go into the paper was discussed at the first meeting of the Council, the NMCC Chairman, Mr V. Krishnamurthy, told newspersons here after the three-hour long meeting.

The council has also identified sectors such as textiles, leather, gems and jewellery and food processing for immediate attention.

``The elements that are likely to go into the long-term strategy paper include making the environment more conducive for manufacturing and enhancing competitiveness of the sector,'' Mr Krishnamurthy said.

Earlier, inaugurating the first meeting of the NMCC, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, said that the common minimum programme recognised the need to improve competitiveness of India's manufacturing sector in order to generate demand, investment and employment in the country.

He held that the Government had accordingly created a forum of all stakeholders in the form of the NMCC to give the much-required fillip to India's manufacturing sector.

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