G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Make in India: An Interview Summary
Amitabh Kant spoke of the Make in India initiative. "It has been ten years into the initiative, but all this is still in the works," he claimed. "The country must progress toward becoming a manufacturing nation, at least bringing the manufacturing sector up to 25% of its GDP." He went on to discuss different sectors, their growth prospects, and the hurdles it holds.
1. Growth Expectations: Kant predicted growth in India to around 7.5%, reflecting on structural reforms and increased spending in the infrastructure, and the creation of a more formalized economy through schemes like Make in India and the new Startup India.
2. Champion States: He is emphasizing growth at the state levels and there should be 10-12 champion states to gain the possibility of high growth rates of 10-12%, which will then reflect at the pan-India level.
3. Health Sector Transformation: Kant spoke about India is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, where it contributes that much to the health of the world at large and significant efforts it made especially during the time of Covid pandemic, besides highlighting growing the biosimilar and generics medicines.
4. Space Sector Growth: He complimented the government's open door policy towards private players in the space sector, which has seen remarkable growth in satellite connectivity and geospatial technology.
5. AI and Emerging Technologies: Kant was also extremely optimistic that India's future promised to be a possible world capital in the context of AI: more AI from farms to factories to significantly boost productivity and outcomes.
6. Manufacturing and Competition with China: He elaborated that India should concentrate on its strengths instead of just trying to replace China as the country most suitable for manufacturing, advocating growth in both the manufacturing and services sectors.
7. Foreign Investment: He emphasized that the positive global sentiment for India is at a peak; he quoted notable foreign investments by VinFast, Apple, and Micron and offered that an investor-friendly environment must be sustained.
8. Electric Vehicles (EV): He acknowledged the boom in this sector led by startups and referred to the manufacturing need in this space as a means to position India as an EV capital.
9. Rural Consumption: He emphasizes record-high rural private consumption with a plea for more skill development to boost participation in the economy.
10. Defence Manufacturing: He picks out significant space in the area of defence manufacturing; it does not import but is well poised to become an exporter in this space.
11. Economic Objectives: He said that India could reach a $30 trillion economy by 2047, assuming sustained growth and productivity improvements.
12. Welfare vs. Growth: He touched upon the issue of welfare against growth, saying while some welfare measures are definitely necessary, they should not be at the cost of growth.
To put it in a nutshell, Kant reiterated that Make in India has to lead to considerable manufacturing growth and will aim for 25% of the GDP to be part of its continued evolution from the manufacturing sector.
Read also| Sensex Closes at All-Time High with Auto Stocks Leading the Surge
