The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed a meeting of the members of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. Dr. Singh urged the members to come forward with ideas to make Indian industry more globally competitive while at the same time, generate more employment. Dr. Singh said that Indian industry should be prepared for lower tariffs and think in terms of world scale production facilities. The members of the Council put forward various suggestions on which the Prime Minister asked them to come forward with specific policy suggestions.

The Prime Minister urged Indian industry to think big and think into the future. He said he was concerned that not too many Indians were thinking creatively about the future possibilities. He hoped the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council would motivate such thinking in the country especially in the industrial sector.