Swami Vivekananda Urja Utsav
Organised by South Asia Forum for Energy Efficiency (SAFEE)
on 12th.January 2015
Press Release
Swami Vivekananda was a great exponent of innovation and enterprise. He brought global attention to India with his historic speech at the Parliament of Religion Summit in Chicago in 1893. Thanks to our Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s efforts and leadership, India has once again become the focus of attention of the developed world.
The South Asia Forum for Energy Efficiency is an NGO formed in 2009 as a joint initiative of World Energy Council –Indian Member Committee and Energy Saving Commission-World Foundry Organization (WFO). It is a not-for-profit organization registered under the Societies Act. Since 2009, SAFEE is actively working in the energy sector to promote greater awareness about energy efficiency, equity, environment and enterprise. Experts at SAFEE contribute to nation- building through policy research, policy advocacy and sectoral studies with participative knowledge networking.
On 12th January 2015 the South Asia Forum for Energy Efficiency had hosted the “Swami Vivekananda Urja Utsav”, paying tribute to Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary under the “Make in India” theme. The chief guest for the event was Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge) and the Guest of Honour was Mr. Sudarshan Bhagat, Hon'ble Minister of State for Rural Development. The event provided a platform for many key stakeholders in the public and private sectors, to provide perspectives on challenges and opportunities that can be addressed in order to realize the ’’Make in India” campaign, which is crucial for driving sustainable growth in the country.
The event started with a welcome address by the Secretary General of SAFEE, Mr. J.K. Mehta followed by a floral tribute to Swami Vivekananda. The event was divided into two sessions with the first session providing the perspective of Indian industries’ outlook on Make in India. While, the second session provided the perspectives on Governmental policy initiatives for Make in India.
which in turn would catalyse sustainable growth of the country to realize the mission of "Make in India". He appealed to the technocrats and industrialist to extend their arms to the villages and do hand holding of rural youth to provide requisite skills and technology to ramp up growth and overall well being of society.
Sri Mohan Agarwal, Vice Chairman, SAFEE provided a brief synopsis on the challenges and opportunities that are being faced in the manufacturing sector. He elaborated on need for sustainable industrial growth and strong support for the foundry sectors to provide inputs to heavy industries such as automobiles and auto-components. For the growth of manufacturing sector, he maintained that it must adopt to energy efficient and environmental sustainable technologies as well as be competitive in the context of the world economy. He indicated that certain important industrial sectors such as manufacturing of Aluminium alloy by recycling aluminium are deprived of a level playing field, due to import duties on relevant raw materials. He proposed that the Government should take some remedial measures to encourage growth of such industries, which can increase exports substantially as well as have significant multiplier effects throughout the economy.
The session on ‘Industry Perspective on Make in India’ was chaired by Mr. G. S. Agarwala, Chairman of CMR Pvt. Ltd and Industry perspective was provided by eminent experts- Dr. K.B. Thakur (Addl. Chief, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council), Sri Atanu Mukherjee (President, Dastur Business and Technology Consulting), Mr. N.C. Mathur (Advisor, Jindal Stainless Steel) and Dr. P.B Rastogi (Director, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change).
During the session, Dr. K.B. Thakur indicated that the India’s manufacturing sector has a lower share of GDP compared to the other industries in other emerging economies due to a variety of issues primarily concerning lack of innovation, limitations in land and availability of critical raw materials, shortage of skilled manpower, critical dependence on technological imports as well as several other macro-economic factors. Dr. K.B. Thakur emphasised that for India’s long-term growth, India should target a 9-10% GDP growth rate and in order to achieve it, the manufacturing sector would need to grow by 12-14%. To support more than 12% growth of manufacturing sector, all the above mentioned issues should be addressed on urgent basis. He also mentioned that at the firm level, the focus should be on adopting best manufacturing practices and production techniques. Additionally, at the
During the session on ‘Perspectives on Governmental Policy Initiatives for Make in India’, Dr. V. K. Garg, Chairman of SAFEE welcomed the Chief Guest and Guest of Honour and gave an overview of the activities and mission of SAFEE. He said that SAFEE is a non-fund based organisation working to promote energy conservation, efficiency and productivity. Steel and Metal, Cement and energy are three major energy intensive industries that are fuel guzzlers and co2 emitters, hence SAFEE identified these industries for greater focus to promote efficient and environment friendly production in these vital sectors.. He further said that to actualize Make In India campaign, we should focus on “DES” i.e. Democracy, Demography and Demand; Education, Employment, and Energy; and Supply, Skill, and speed of delivery of services to the people.
After pleasantries which included floral tribute to Swami Vivekananda and lighting of the lamp, Sri Vijay Prakash Saha, Mentor SAFEE, while felicitating the Hon'ble guests said that both the Ministers who have graced the Urja Utsav hail from East Indian states rich in natural mineral resources which are being supplied across the country adding to state’s prosperity, signifying the statement of Link East -Look West within the country too.
Sri Dharmendra Pradhan, the Chief Guest of the function, congratulated SAFEE for naming the event after the most revered Swami Vivekananda, who is one of the greatest sons of Mother India. Inspite of his very busy schedule, he decided to come to this function because he wanted to meet the people and industrialists to get a feedback on the initiatives taken by his government during last seven months since their govt. came to power. The manufacturing Industry provides the key to significantly add to national growth, provide employment to masses and generate revenue. Under the Make in India programme, they have identified 25 sectors for thrust in Indian Manufacturing. Far reaching measures are being gradually introduced to reduce complexity, and significantly increase speed and transparency. In his Ministry, many steps have been taken in recent months like deregulation of diesel price, launch of "Direct benefit transfer of LPG", and an ambitious target of adding another 15,000 kms of natural gas pipeline to the existing pipeline network in country. He further encouraged everyone to freely share their ideas and suggestions on measures that India needs to bolster its energy sector.
Sri Sudershan Bhagat, Hon'ble Minister for Rural Development while addressing the forum, said that the country has abundant natural resources which need to be tapped effectively through innovation and enterprise to meet the challenge of providing energy to all and promoting energy equity,
governmental level, a focus on manufacturing as centre stage of development strategy was emphasized, as well as the need for highlighting and integrating different policies is important, in order to make industries better understand and realise the prevalent opportunities. He added that the new government has already taken initiatives for improving enabling business environment in India which should now be succeeded by implementation in a time bound manner.
Sri Atanu Mukherjee emphasised that key to growth and prosperity is a long-term effort and the country should maintain a 7% growth rate for 20 years. This stems from substantial increases in manufacturing and energy capacity. For increases in manufacturing capacity, steel is important due to multiplier effects in the economy where growth will be dependent on mechanisms to improve raw material strategies as exploration and transportation investments as well as opportunities for improvements in productivity. For energy capacity, Mr. Atanu Mukherjee indicated that fossil fuel based power sources such as coal and shale gas are the key determinants for energy capacity and security in the long-term future. The way forward for India in order to realize long-term growth is dependent on the policy’s institutional frameworks and management strategies. It should not re-invent the wheel but take advantage of technologies available around the world, a term he emphasises as “Make for India”.
Mr. N.C. Mathur provided a brief history of the stainless steel industry, technical characteristics associated with the metal and its applicability across various sectors of the economy. He also highlighted some of the positive attributes including its recyclability, health and safety features. He further indicated that the industry is currently suffering and there is a need to encourage the industry further.
The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks proposed by Sri Prabhat Varshney (Vice Chairman, SAFEE)
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