On Hold

The government's much vaunted New Industrial Policy (that would have subsumed the 2011 National Manufacturing Policy), appears to have been put on hold.

With elections approaching, progress on this front seems near impossible though the government had circulated a discussion paper in 2017 pushing 'Make in India' aggressively. On multiple occasions, government functionaries said the policy was finalised and even hinted that cabinet approval was around the corner but there was no official word on what happened thereafter.

The discussion paper is visionary, focussing on new technologies like Artificial Intelligence and robotics, reducing regulations, bringing new industries at the forefront and at the same time promoting manufacturing, job creation, industrial infrastructure creation, credit for MSMEs and foreign investment. The new government must ensure that it swiftly moves on the policy and revives manufacturing and job creation.