Defence, other ministries should follow CAPF canteens and only allow sale of local products: Swadeshi Jagran Manch

By Pragya Kaushika
New Delhi [India], May 14 : RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) lauded the Union Finance Ministry's decision of not allowing global tenders for government purchases up to Rs 200 crore, and also expressed hope that Defence and other ministries will toe the same line and only allow the sale of local products in their canteens.
The affiliate, while appreciating government's fiscal stimulus package, also demanded that foreign companies wanting to operate in India should forego royalties, besides leaving domestic market untouched.
Speaking to ANI on the announcements made by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday, Ashwani Mahajan, national co-convenor of SJM said, "The decision of not going in for global tenders up to Rs 200 crore is a big boost. Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) canteens have taken a positive step by allowing the sale of local products only. We expect Defence and other ministries to come up with such decisions as well. Government is a big buyer. We had a Congress government before and I wonder why it has never thought of such things."
The SJM functionary also said that while his organisation has been opposing foreign companies in the country, it has communicated that these companies may be allowed if they agree to some conditions.
"The conditions are that foreign companies will come for export only and will not eat into the domestic market. These foreign companies use domestic products and take away royalty from here in the name of technology, these companies should forego that amount," stated Mahajan.
Responding to what makes the government think that countries will shift the base of their manufacturing to India if they leave China, Mahajan said, "China's creditworthiness graph has dipped." He also stated that the Centre has taken steps to ensure when companies leave China they would consider shifting base to India and that India has improved its standing on the ease-of-doing-business front.
He also pointed out that corporate income tax rates are minimum in India. "We have the manpower, competitiveness in terms of wages, China is on the higher side. These are factors that will ensure that we are able to attract foreign companies," he stated.
The SJM functionary also believes that COVID-19 virus came out of a lab from China. A similar sentiment was echoed by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday.
He also believes that the loan package announced by the Centre will help the MSMEs sector.
"MSME were not able to avail loans from NBFCs and loans. There has been considerable improvement in moratorium rules. However, we believe there should be interest intervention scheme for MSMEs. The government should lower the interest rates," he said.