A strong initiative called the Make in India initiative was launched on the 25th of September 2014. It is an initiative that calls on all the big companies of the world to come and invest in India. This initiative has lucrative proposals in store for all the foreign companies to set up manufacturing units in India. In simpler terms, the main aim of this initiative is to boost the manufacturing sector, promote foreign investment and reduce the country’s dependency on imports.

Objectives of this initiative

The government aims to create a conducive environment for investments and more importantly create job opportunities. Many more objectives, willing to be executed by the Government of India, are part of this mighty project and if carried out in a considerate and thoughtful manner, India can stand out among the major developed countries of the world. The objectives of this initiative, include:

• To ensure robust economic growth and generate more and more employment across the country.
• With investors lending a helping hand India will become completely independent in the manufacturing sector.
• Besides the investors and the country, companies will benefit as they get to create their brands in the global market.
• This will help in the growth of a 3 trillion dollar GDP, and place it on the launchpad towards becoming a 5 trillion dollar economy.
• It will help retain investors in the country, who were planning to move out of the country due to lack of resources and dearth of clarity on policies. Due to this factor, MNCs from across the world will invest in India and give a boost to the Make in India project.
• To enhance the growth of the manufacturing sector of India by 12-14% annually.
• To create 100 million additional manufacturing jobs in the Indian economy by 2022.

As of now, the manufacturing sector contributes to 15% of the country’s GDP. This plan focuses on raising the contribution of the manufacturing sector from 15% to 25%.

There are twenty five sectors that have been identified under this initiative, and they are-- Automobile, automobile parts, aviation, biotechnology, chemicals, construction, defence production, electrical machinery, electronic systems, food process, IT and BPM, leather, entertainment and media, mining, oil and gas, pharmaceutical industry, shipping, railways, renewable energy, roads and highways, space, textiles and garments, thermal power, tourism and hospitality, wellness. 

Advantages of Make in India initiative

What are the advantages of this initiative? What do investors need to be assured of incentives and higher gains? There are a few factors that investors look at before investing somewhere, and they are:

• Land available at a cheap and affordable price
• Population that is willing to and able to work (young workforce). As a country, India is blessed to have a growing working-age population. This initiative will help in steering the productivity of a talented youth population towards the right direction.
• Easier access to markets. Large domestic market will lead to higher local consumption, in addition to the export markets that can be served from India.
• Technology: The exponential growth of India’s IT industry has changed the perception of the whole world about India’s storehouse of knowledge and skills and powered economic growth. Several liberalisation policies such as the lowering of trade barriers and eliminating import duties on technology products by the Government of India are instrumental in the evolution of this industry. Also, various other government initiatives like setting up Software Technology Parks (STP), Export Oriented Units (EOU), Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) have helped this industry in attaining a leading position in the world IT industry.
• Vicinity: In order to manufacture in India, an industry requires a promising location to set up machinery as well as factories. To fulfil this requirement, not only the areas chosen for setting up industries will be benefited, but rural areas surrounding the industry will also benefit as a result, mainly in terms of generating employment.
• Ease of doing business India: India is ranked 130th in terms of ease of doing business. With this step, an open invitation has been sent to the entire world to manufacture their products in India and the various restrictions opposed over the entrepreneurs will be lifted and aspiring businessmen from all over the globe could invest in India with no stress at all. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited the world to come and invest in India at various world platforms.
• Cost of doing business:

Steps taken by the Government to ensure Make in India

There are several things the government needs to ensure and assure towards making India a global manufacturing hub. Some of the initiatives to be taken towards making this dream a reality are listed below:

• Easing of business environment: To promote entrepreneurship and give a boost to this initiative, the government has framed policies to ensure that the ecosystem for setting up businesses is not riddled with hurdles.
• New Infrastructure: Availability and facilitation of modern technology. In order to give a boost our current manufacturing rates, it must be ensured that old and existing technology should be replaced with cutting-edge technology. This provision will help in providing employment to many highly-skilled engineers within the country and also reduce our dependence on imports.
• Production linked Incentive schemes: In order to boost domestic manufacturing and reduce the dependency on imports, the Central Government introduced a scheme that aims to give companies incentives on incremental sales from products manufactured in indigenous units. Apart from inviting foreign companies to invest in India, this initiative also aims at encouraging local companies to set up or expand their manufacturing units in India.
• Skill enhancement: India is a rapidly growing economy with an ever-increasing population. A dearth of highly trained and qualified labour calls for a Skill Enhancement initiative. To take advantage of a large pool of working population in India, the Government of India (GoI) is focused on spurring the growth of the manufacturing sector by launching this campaign in September 2014, with a grand vision of creating 100 million jobs. This program was designed to turn the country into a ‘global manufacturing hub’ and increase jobs by providing a fresh impetus to the economy.
• FDI ease: FDI is one of the keys to India’s aspiration to be a $5 trillion economy. The Government also plans on easing foreign investment rules for sectors ranging from construction to animation to attract overseas capital needed to create jobs in an economy cratered by the pandemic. The construction sector received FDI inflows worth $25.7 billion between April 2000 and September 2020, government data show. The relaxation in rules is also likely to help the government get closer to its target of creating affordable housing for all in urban areas by 2022 and building 100 smart cities.

In summary, this initiative can be of great help to India and, as stated above, can help in placing India on the launchpad towards becoming an economic powerhouse and most importantly, help India combat poverty if executed properly, navigating through a rigid and redundant barrier such as red-tapism. Further, India can increase FDI inflows by signing Free-trade agreements individually with nations than get into regional economic programmes and forums dictated by individual countries.