Make in India

PROGRAM

The Make in India initiative was launched by Prime Minister in September 2014 as part of a wider set of nation-building initiatives. Devised to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub, Make in India was a timely response to a critical situation. By 2013, the much-hyped emerging markets bubble had burst, and India’s growth rate had fallen to its lowest level in a decade. The promise of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) had faded, and India was tagged as one of the so-called ‘Fragile Five’. Global investors debated whether the world’s largest democracy was a risk or an opportunity. India’s 1.2 billion citizens questioned whether India was too big to succeed or too big to fail. India was on the brink of severe economic failure, desperately in need of a big push.

PROCESS

Make in India was launched by Prime Minister against the backdrop of this crisis and quickly became a rallying cry for India’s innumerable stakeholders and partners. It was a powerful, galvanizing call to action to India’s citizens and business leaders, and an invitation to potential partners and investors around the world. But Make in India is much more than an inspiring slogan. It represents a comprehensive and unprecedented overhaul of outdated processes and policies. Most importantly, it represents a complete change of the government’s mindset – a shift from issuing authority to a business partner, in keeping with Prime Minister’s tenet of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’.

PLAN

To start a movement, you need a strategy that inspires, empowers and enables in equal measure. Make in India needed a different kind of campaign: instead of the typical statistics-laden newspaper advertisements, this exercise required messaging that was informative, well-packaged and most importantly, credible. It had to-

(a) inspire confidence in India’s capabilities amongst potential partners abroad, the Indian business community and citizens at large;

(b) provide a framework for a vast amount of technical information on 25 industry sectors; and

(c) reach out to a vast local and global audience via social media and constantly keep them updated about opportunities, reforms, etc.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) worked with a group of highly specialized agencies to build brand new infrastructure, including a dedicated help desk and a mobile-first website that packed a wide array of information into a simple and sleek menu. Designed primarily for mobile screens, the site’s architecture ensured that exhaustive levels of detail are neatly tucked away so as not to overwhelm the user. 25 sector brochures were also developed – contents included key facts and figures, policies and initiatives and sector-specific contact details, all of which was made available in print and on the website.

PARTNERSHIPS

The Make in India initiative has been built on layers of the collaborative effort. DIPP initiated this process by inviting participation from Union Ministers, Secretaries to the Government of India, state governments, industry leaders, and various knowledge partners. Next, a National Workshop on sector-specific industries in December 2014 brought Secretaries to the Government of India and industry leaders together to debate and formulate an action plan for the next three years, aimed at raising the contribution of the manufacturing sector to 25% of the GDP by 2020. This plan was presented to the Prime Minister, Union Ministers, industry associations and industry leaders by the Secretaries to the Union Government and the Chief Secretary, Maharashtra on behalf of state governments.

These exercises resulted in a road map for the single largest manufacturing initiative undertaken by a nation in recent history. They also demonstrated the transformational power of public-private partnership, and have become a hallmark of the Make in India initiative. This collaborative model has also been successfully extended to include India’s global partners, as evidenced by the recent in-depth interactions between India and the United States of America.

PROGRESS

In a short space of time, the obsolete and obstructive frameworks of the past have been dismantled and replaced with a transparent and user-friendly system. This is helping drive investment, fostering innovation, developing skills, protecting Intellectual Property (IP) and building best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure. The most striking indicator of progress is the unprecedented opening of key sectors – including railways, defense, insurance and medical devices – to substantially higher levels of Foreign Direct Investment.

The ministry has engaged with the World Bank Group to identify areas of improvement in line with World Bank’s ‘doing business’ methodology. Several workshops with Ministries and State governments have been conducted by the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) and World Bank for Business Reforms Action Plan.

An Investor Facilitation Cell (IFC) dedicated for the Make in India campaign was formed in September 2014 with an objective to assist investors in seeking regulatory approvals, hand-holding services through the pre-investment phase, execution and after-care support.

The Indian embassies and consulates proactively disseminate information on the potential for investment in the identified sectors. DPIIT has set up a special management team to facilitate and fast track investment proposals from Japan. The team was known as ‘Japan Plus was operationalized in October 2014. Similarly, ‘Korea Plus’, launched in June 2016, facilitates fast track investment proposals from South Korea and offers holistic support to Korean companies wishing to enter the Indian market.

Various sectors have been opened up for FDI like defence manufacturing, railways, space, single-brand retail, etc. Also, for ease of doing business, the regulatory policies have been relaxed to facilitate more investments.

Across various regions of the country; six industrial corridors are being developed. Industrial Cities will also come up along these corridors.

Today, India’s credibility is stronger than ever. There are visible momentum, energy and optimism. Make in India is opening investment doors. Multiple enterprises are adopting their mantra. The world’s largest democracy is well on its way to becoming the world’s most powerful economy.

Vision of Make in India Campaign

• An increase in manufacturing sector growth to 12 -14% per annum over the medium term.
• An increase in the share of manufacturing in the country’s Gross Domestic Product from 16% to 25% by 2022.
• To create 100 million additional jobs by 2022 in manufacturing sector.
• Creation of appropriate skill sets among rural migrants and the urban poor for inclusive growth.
• An increase in domestic value addition and technological depth in manufacturing.
• Enhancing the global competitiveness of the Indian manufacturing sector.
• Ensuring sustainability of growth, particularly with regard to Environment.

Major Initiatives of the Make in India plans

1.  Invest India cell: An investor facilitation cell set up by the government 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.
2. Consolidated services and faster security clearances: All central government services are being integrated with an e-Biz single window online portal while states have been advised to introduce self-certification. The ministry of home affairs have been asked to give all security clearances to investment proposals within 3 months.
3. Dedicated portal for business queries: A dedicated cell has been created to answer queries from business entities through a newly created web portal (http://www.makeinindia.com). The back-end support team of the cell would answer specific queries within 72 hours.
4. Easing policies and laws: A vast number of defence items have been de-licensed and the validity of industrial license has been extended to three years.
5. Interactions with the users/visitors: A pro-active approach will be deployed to track visitors for their geographical location, interest and real time user behaviour. Visitors registered on the website or raising queries will be followed up with relevant information and newsletter.
6. The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2015 has been passed to remove requirements of minimum paid-up capital and common seal for companies. It also simplifies a number of other associated regulatory requirements. It also simplifies a number of other regulatory requirements.
7. An Investor Facilitation Cell has been created in „Invest India‟ to guide, assist and handhold investors during the entire life -cycle of the business.
8. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has also set up Japan Plus and Korea Plus. They are special management teams to facilitate and fast track investment proposals from Japan and Korea respectively.

9. Protecting Minority Investors: Greater disclosure of conflicts of interest is now required by board members, increasing the remedies available in case of prejudicial related-party transactions. Additional safeguards have been put for shareholders of privately held companies.