India's Government Will Unveil Strategy To Boost Manufacturing Employment By 100 Million

The Indian government is putting the final touches on a new strategy to increase manufacturing employment in the country by 100 million workers by 2025. The government’s National Manufacturing Policy has been cleared for release by the Group of Ministers and has received approval by the Prime Minister.
The goal of the program is to increase manufacturing’s percentage of GDP from its current level of 15 percent to 25 to 30 percent over the next 15 years. The plan “aims to put the manufacturing sector into a high-growth trajectory, making India a favored destination for manufacturing,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General of the Confederation of Indian Industry.
At 15 percent (compared to 11 percent in the United States), India’s manufacturing sector “contributes the lowest to the national GDP compared to other countries in the region such as China at 34 percent, Thailand at 40 percent and South Korea, Poland, Turkey and Malaysia contributing approximately 26 percent to 30 percent to their national GDP,” says the Confederation of Indian Industry. “It is a known fact that no major country in the world has become economically prosperous without going through long periods of manufacturing dominance. This is true for U.S., Western Europe, Japan and now China. India cannot be an exception.”
Only 12 percent of India’s workforce is in the manufacturing sector, compared to 28 percent in China, 22 percent in Germany, and between 17 percent and 19 percent in Russia and Brazil. “In India, too, manufacturing contribution to employment generation can increase up to 25 percent to 30 percent, if the share of manufacturing to the national GDP reaches 25 percent,” says the Confederation of Indian Industry.
The Manufacturing Policy “envisages creating National Investment and Manufacturing Zones, which would radically change the way of doing business in India,” says the Confederation. “Simplified business procedures and approval systems, expeditious exit policy, third-party certifications and technology development would shape a robust manufacturing sector in India.”
*Source: http://www.manufacturingnews.com/news/11/1021/india.html by Richard McCormack