The COVID-19 highlighted that supply chains should not only be based on cost but also on trust said Piyush Goyal, Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles delivering keynote address at Bank of America's flagship Virtual Conference on the topic “Shifting supply chains globally: Could Make in India see success?”

He opined that ensuring transparent, trustworthy, and resilient supply chains is at the core of trade revival and added that India emerged as a source of resilience and a trusted partner during COVID-19.

The Minister said that supply and demand disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have forced manufacturers everywhere to reassess their supply chains.

He added that India demonstrated its capacity and capability to the entire world by not only meeting all our international service commitments but also by becoming self-sufficient in production of critical medical supplies (PPEs, testing, and masks).

Referring to India’s Pharmaceutical industry, Piyush Goyal said that we are widely recognised as the “Pharmacy of the world” for providing medicines and vaccines to most countries in the world. Speaking of India’s success in implementing the largest vaccination drive in the world, the Minister said that with a plan to manufacture 5 billion doses of vaccine next year, India was aspiring to serve and secure all of humanity.

Pointing towards the rising economic indicators, Goyal said that India is back in action and the decade is shaping up to be a growth decade, with our exports surging and FDI in-flows and investments following a high growth trajectory. He said that trade must grow in a mutually beneficial and collaborative way.

Underscoring India’s strengths as a supply chain alternative, the Minister said that India has a diverse business landscape, skilled workforce and relatively low labour cost. He spoke of India’s ambitious National Infrastructure Pipeline project and said that the new PM GatiShakti Master Plan would lend new life to India’s infrastructure planning and eventually help in reducing logistics cost to 5%.