New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled the logo of Make in India campaign – a lion made of cogs and the Ashoka Chakra – denoting the county’s manufacturing strength and national pride. He also launched website –www.makeinindia.com – through which a dedicated cell will answer business queries within 72 hours.
The Prime Minister has taken his Independence Day message “Make in India” into the action realm. The policy is now turned into a gigantic campaign which targets top global companies. It also identifies selected domestic companies that have innovative leadership with new technology to turn them into global champions.
The emphasis is on making it easy to do business in India, removing hurdles like red tape and corruption. The commerce ministry has set up an “Invest India” unit which will act as the first reference point for guiding foreign investors on all aspects of regulatory and policy issues and to assist them in obtaining regulatory clearances.
The Prime Minister has involved all ministries related to manufacturing. Each will carry out back-end work related to ease of doing business. The focus will be on 25 sectors and the respective ministries – heavy industries, telecom, power and others – have been involved. It will be a holistic integration of perspective on manufacturing.
Modi talked about a trust deficit in the country and emphasised on the need for government responsibility like corporate responsibility. Good governance, he said, was not enough. There must be “effective governance. The PM said the investment climate so far had been too uncertain and added, “I agree investment does not come on mere invitation.”
Pledging to create 1.25 lakhs job in next one year as a part of Make in India campaign, India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries said, “PM Modi dreams and does, working 14 hours a day and motivates a billion Indians to dream and do.”
Tata group chairman Cyrus Mistry said, “Key challenges like building critical infrastructure and putting in place transparent tax and Duty structures have to be met…Make in India is a unique opportunity for government and business to work together.”
The Centre’s objective is to get manufacturing sector to grow over 10% on a sustainable basis in the long run. It has planned global outreach through a digital campaign. “We have liberalised the FDI regime. The idea is to send across the message to foreign investors that India is becoming a better place to do business,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
The PM made a pitch to manufacture pharmaceuticals, auto components and biotech products, among others, in India. Food processing, IT, defence, electronics and textiles figure among the 25 sectors identified.
The 25 major identified areas are: