10 years of Make in India: PM says impact visible across sectors

With the flagship Make in India scheme completing a decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday highlighted that its imprint is become visible across sectors.

For instance, in 2014, India only had two mobile manufacturing units, which has now risen to 200. “Our mobile exports have skyrocketed from a mere Rs 1,556 crore to an astounding Rs 1.2 lakh crore—a mind-boggling 7500% increase! Today, 99% of mobile phones used in India are Made in India. We’ve become the second-largest mobile manufacturer globally,” he said in a post on LinkedIn.

India has also become a net exporter of finished steel, with production increasing by over 50% since 2014, he said, adding that our semiconductor manufacturing sector has attracted investments worth over Rs 1.5 lakh crore, with five plants approved that will have a combined capacity of more than 7 crore chips per day. In renewable energy, India is the fourth largest producer globally, with capacity increasing by 400% in just a decade. “Our electric vehicle industry, practically non-existent in 2014, is now worth $3 billion,” he further said.

The ‘Make in India’ initiative, which aims to transform India into a global manufacturing hub was launched on September 25, 2014 and has completed a decade into existence.

Officials noted that the Make in India initiative resulted in substantial achievements in infrastructure, defence and exports and policies such as Production Linked Incentives (PLI), foreign direct investment (FDI) reforms and infrastructure have attracted both domestic and foreign investments.

While the government remains optimistic about excellent growth in the country’s manufacturing sector but has underscored that challenges remain in areas such as job creation and expansion in the small and medium enterprises segment.

Further, despite efforts, the share of manufacturing in GDP has remained at about 17% and is still a far call from the target of 25% by 2030.

“We are very optimistic of excellent growth in the manufacturing sector. The number of delegations that are coming in, searching for partners and commitments by foreign investors is tremendous,” said Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade on Wednesday.

Highlighting the impact of the various initiatives under the scheme, the DPIIT Secretary said that the Production Linked Incentive scheme in 14 sectors has resulted in Rs 1.46 lakh crore of investments that have led to Rs 12 lakh crore of manufacturing output and sales and generated 9 lakh jobs. It has also given a boost to exports by Rs 4 lakh crore.
In a statement, the DPIIT said that since 2014, India has attracted a cumulative FDI inflow of $ 667.4 billion (2014-24), registering an increase of 119% over the preceding decade (2004-14).  FDI equity inflows into the manufacturing sector over the past decade (2014-24) reached $ 165.1 billion, marking a 69% increase compared to the previous decade (2004 -14), which saw inflows of $ 97.7 billion.

The Secretary also highlighted that ease of doing business has been a key focus of the Make in India initiative. Over 42,000 compliances have been reduced, and 3,700 provisions have been decriminalised. The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, passed by Lok Sabha in July last year has also decriminalised 183 provisions across 42 Central Acts. Bhatia said the Centre will work with states to further improve the ease of doing business.