Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Sunday asked traders to undertake Customer Awareness campaign to make people buy make in India goods.
He asked traders to fully contribute towards the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat campaign and called upon them to act as the whistleblowers, in exposing traders and businessmen who are hell-bent on importing poor-quality goods from unfriendly countries.
Goyal was speaking to the traders' fraternity on the occasion of the National traders' day through virtual interaction, in which he said that the community stands to benefit a lot from the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat campaign as good quality products made in India will usher in economies of scale, thereby lowering prices, and also making our products competitive in the international markets.
"This will lead to more employment opportunities and prosperity of the people and more purchasing power. The Government has already put restrictions on many imported items, which can be easily produced in the country like agarbatti (incense sticks), sports goods, TV, telephone, tyres etc," he said and further added that an estimated Rs 10 lakh crore worth of imports can be easily substituted with the indigenously produced goods.
He also assured them that a National Traders Welfare Board will soon be constituted in the country and invited them to join the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.
He also asked the traders to push for the PM's clarion call for "Vocal for Local".
Goyal also lauded the role of traders during the COVID crisis phase and asserted that their contribution had also been recognized by the Prime Minister.
( With inputs from ANI )