The ambitious Make in India initiative is a scheme of the Government of India launched under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. The scheme intends to boost the domestic market & attract investment into the country. With a long term vision of developing India into a Global manufacturing hub & boost employment opportunities, Make in India is a scheme with a greater purpose to serve.
It was launched by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to encourage businesses abroad to make investments in the Indian markets as well as manufacture here itself, thereby improving the country’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’.
Make in India is an amalgamation of various sub-schemes & programmes to attract investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, protect intellectual property rights & build best in class manufacturing infrastructure. The aim of the Scheme is to give a boost to entrepreneurship in India.
Dimensions of Make in India
Make in India comprises of various dimensions:
- The infrastructure available is a major driver for growth therefore the government intends to develop industrial corridors & smart cities to provide relevant infrastructure for development. By upgrading & strengthening existing infrastructure, a boost can be provided to industrial clusters.
- Improving innovation & research through a fast paced registration system and easy transfer of Intellectual Property Rights.
- Identification & development of a workforce based on industry required skills.
Under the Make in India scheme the government has identified 25 sectors in manufacturing infrastructure and service activities. Foreign direct investment(FDI) has been opened up in sectors such as Defense production, construction and Railway infrastructure.
Make in India has brought a new mind set where the government interacts differently with the industry by partnering with it for economic development of the country. The approach under make in India would be of being a facilitator rather than being a regulator like it used to be. It is also credited to be a single large manufacturing initiative undertaken by the government by demonstrating the power of public private partnership.
The most striking pointer of Make in India is the progress of unprecedented sectors including the railways, defense, insurance, and medical devices that have been opened up to dramatically higher Foreign Direct Investment.
| Name of the scheme | Make in India |
| Date of launching | 25th September 2014 |
| Launched by | PM Narendra Modi |
| Government Ministry | Ministry of Commerce and Industry |
| Make in India website | http://www.makeinindia.com/home/ |
Focus Sectors of Make in India
There are 25 focus sectors under the Make in India initiative. They include :
Manufacturing Sectors:
- Aerospace and Defence
- Automotive and Auto Components
- Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices
- Bio-Technology
- Capital Goods
- Textile and Apparels
- Chemicals and Petrochemicals
- Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM)
- Leather & Footwear
- Food Processing
- Gems and Jewellery
- Shipping
- Railways
- Construction
- New and Renewable Energy
Services Sectors:
- Information Technology & Information Technology enabled Services (IT &ITeS)
- Tourism and Hospitality Services
- Medical Value Travel
- Transport and Logistics Services
- Accounting and Finance Services
- Audio Visual Services
- Legal Services
- Communication Services
- Construction and Related Engineering Services
- Environmental Services
- Financial Services
- Education Services
Initiatives of Make in India
Many revolutionary initiatives have been taken under the Make in India scheme of the Government of India:
- Sectors such as railways, insurance, defense, and medical devices have been opened up for foreign direct investment.
- The maximum limit of foreign direct investment in the defense sector has been raised from the usual 50% to 74%.
- In automatization of the railway infrastructure, 100% foreign direct investment is permitted.
- To allow easy investments in the country, an Investment Facilitation Cell to assist investors was constituted in 2014.
- India has made a major jump in the ‘ease of doing business’ report published by the World Bank from 142nd position in 2014 to 63rd in 2019.
- Government portals such as Shram Suvidha Portal & eBiz portal offer single window access to 11 government services for starting a business in India.
- Permits and licensing have also been relaxed in areas of property registration, payment of taxes, getting power connections, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency in order to facilitate and promote startups.
- Major steps such as time-bound clearance of applications of foreign investors, automation for registration with Employees State Insurance Corporation, Adoption of Best Clearance Practices by States, decreasing documentation for exports, and insurance compliance through peer evaluation and self certification have improved the ease of doing business.
Some Important Schemes under Make in India
- Production Linked Incentive(PLI) Scheme – PLI scheme focuses on 14 sectors in the vision of making India ‘Atmanirbhar’. It aims at attracting investment in key sectors to maximize efficiency and ensure economic development by boosting domestic manufacturing & making the Indian market competitive as per the global levels. It includes:
(i) Mobile Manufacturing and Specified Electronic Components, (ii) Critical Key Starting Materials/Drug Intermediaries & Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, (iii) Manufacturing of Medical Devices (iv) Automobiles and Auto Components, (v) Pharmaceuticals Drugs, (vi) Specialty Steel, (vii) Telecom & Networking Products, (viii) Electronic/Technology Products, (ix) White Goods (ACs and LEDs), (x) Food Products, (xi) Textile Products: MMF segment and technical textiles, (xii) High efficiency solar PV modules, (xiii) Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery, and (xiv) Drones and Drone Components
- National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme(NMCP) – this initiative launched by the government of India is to improve global competitiveness among the Indian MSMEs. The program targets to enhance the entire value chain of MSME sector by using the following components:
- Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme for MSMEs;
- Promotion of Information & Communication Tools (ICT) in MSME sector;
- Technology and Quality Upgradation Support to MSMEs
- Design Clinics scheme for MSMEs;
- Enabling Manufacturing Sector to be Competitive through Quality Management Standards (QMS) and Quality Technology Tools (QTT);
- Marketing Assistance and Technology Upgradation Scheme for MSMEs;
- National campaign for building awareness on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR);
- Support for Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development of SMEs through Incubators
- Barcode under Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme.
- Skill India Programme – the skill India program includes various aspects of digital skills and technology related training to enhance the employment opportunities of a young individual. It aims to promote digital literacy and enhance the skill set based on the demands of the manufacturing sector and promote entrepreneurship.
- Startup India – Startup India is a flagship initiative of Government of India that intends to build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in India. It aims to catalyze the startup culture among individuals as young as 18 years. The motive of the scheme is to support SC, ST, and women entrepreneurs to empower them and give them an opportunity to make money for their families themselves.
- Digital India – another initiative to digitally empower the society by facilitating adoption of digital technology is in manufacture of processes and operations. Its motive is to make India a digitally empowered society.
Challenges
With a scheme this big, there are bound to be several challenges to hinder its full potential. The key challenges are:
- Bureaucratic hurdles that increase compliance costs and deter investment
- Mismatch and shortage of skills that affect innovation in the manufacturing sector
- Lack of an effective work force
- Sustainability issues arising due to rapid industrialisation
- Geopolitical tension which affects the foreign direct investment low into the country for growth and expansion