Why is 'Make in India' struggling to make progress?
Manufacturing industry has been taken as the real national muscle, particularly when the global trade war is likely around the corner. Whether 'Make in India' could replace 'Made in China' arouses the universal attention. However, the recent argument within India's domestic politics proves India still has a long way.
The Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have engaged in heated debates over whether the 'Make in India' initiative has failed. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi pointed out that although Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to turn India into a factory for the world, the share of manufacturing in India's GDP has unexpectedly declined, dropping from 15.3 per cent in 2014 to 12.6 per cent today, the lowest in six decades.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was even more scathing in his criticism, stating that "Modinomics is a curse on India's economy". Given the current state of development, he argues, Modi's campaign promises to build India into a global production powerhouse has no chance of being fulfilled.
Reacting to these sharp remarks, BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya insisted that the "Make in India" initiative has fueled sustained expansion in the country's manufacturing sector. While 29 million jobs had been created during the INC's tenure (2004-2014),........
© The Express Tribune
