Make In India: The Story So Far

The Make in India call from the Indian government has encouraged global investors operating in different verticals to make investments in the country and boost their business bypromoting their brands in the country. But has the initiative lived up to expectations?

- Baishakhi Dutta

Launched on September 25, 2014, ‘Make in India’ is a major na-tional programme of the Indian government that promotes investment, innovation and skills development, apart from protecting intellectual property and building world class manufacturing infrastructure in the country. The need for this initiative was felt because manufacturing in the country was facing a number of challenges, including difficulties in the setting up of new factories because of tough land acquisition norms, archaic labour laws, cheap imports from China that hampered domestic production, and the problems associated with inadequate infrastructure.

Since the launch of this programme, the government has announced several steps to improve the business environment by streamlining many processes in the country. This has resulted in an exponential rise in domestic production and has pushed India further towards becoming a manufacturing hub. Now in its fifth year, industry experts believe this initiative is an active invitation to investors and organisations around the world.

In relation to the Indian electronics industry, Make in India is not just an inspirational slogan. It represents a comprehensive reform of processes and policies, as believed by various industry veterans. It represents a radical change in the way the government thinks, moving from being a licensing agency to a business partner, in line with Prime Minister Modi’s belief in ‘minimum government, maximum governance’.