Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday asked the industry to focus on making high quality products to tap global markets. He said the export competitiveness will not come from government subsidies or support.

The government is putting its effort to nudge industry to get into the manufacturing of high quality products as it is a tough task to get industry to accept that they should be making quality goods, he said.

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“Our export competitiveness is not going to come from subsidies or government support. It is not going to come from our closing the doors to the rest of the world. If we are looking at self-reliant India, it can only happen when India will be self-confident and that confidence will only come when we all decide that quality is not our job, it is our duty,” Goyal added.

He said that if the Indian industry is not competitive in any product that can be imported the industry has to work towards competitiveness where it has a comparative advantage with other nations.

The minister highlighted that till 2014, only 14 QCOs covering 106 products were issued. But in the last 10 years, the government has issued as many as 174 such orders covering 732 products to ensure that more and more people will become aligned with better quality standards.

These orders help curb the import of sub-standard products, prevent unfair trade practices and ensure the safety and well-being of consumers as well as the environment.

“India will have to aspire to become a manufacturer of high quality goods and services and it should be recognised globally,” Goyal said.

“We still have a lot of work to do in terms of getting industry aligned with these QCOs,” he said.