Friday 10 July 2015

Make In India

Make in India is launched by GOI with lots of grandeur and fanfare is deemed as game changer for ailing manufacturing sector in India. Governments impetus on manufacturing augurs well for masses as manufacturing is the biggest source of employment after agricultural sector for unskilled and semiskilled workforce. Indian economy is incredibly diverse with more intrinsically inclined then dependent on exports .Government efforts to improve overall businesses environment is encouraging, transparent auctioning of mines,spectrum etc, cutting down on red tapism, quick redressal of projects stuck in green tribunals are steps in right direction but still woefully short of major transformation when it comes to investment in the country. Indian economy has many impediments that needs to be firmly addressed before gaining confidence of investors , major reforms have to be implemented to bring in investments that India needs. Halfhearted attempts by govt to push for clearing basic bills like GST stuck in parliament logjam , repeatedly bringing ordinance on land doesn't lend much confidence among investors thus squandering the momentum and hope built on economic reforms.
          63% of GDP is services sector that grew tremendously through 90's with liberalization and reforms ushered during that time, yet the stupendous growth of services sector has one drawback it employs just 28 % of Indian workforce. IT enabled services, such as Business Process Outsourcing, have grown rapidly in the recent years and will continue to rise but is over dependent on the vagaries of world economic fluctuations.Tourism and hospitality is another sub sector that's discarded till recently and only now some steps are initiated as its growth holds promise for job creation .The biggest job creator is the agricultural sector employing  more then 53% of workforce but it accounts for just 17% of Indian GDP.Indian farm sector is still largely dependent on the climatic conditions with one or two droughts causes havoc. It is this discrepancy that needs immediate attention.We have to redeploy manpower from agriculture towards manufacturing .Recent govt impetus on building food processing industries(Food Parks) and cold storage parks ensures confidence. Food processing will help in value addition and cutting on agricultural wastages that's highest in the world .The over dependence of population on single sector has devastating consequences with maximum poverty stricken and debt ridden class emanating in rural India as is evident from recently published reports from Government .Finally, the Industry sector makes up 20 %of India’s GDP and employs around 19% of the labour force. Among the major sub-industries include textiles (the largest industry in terms of employment), chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery and pharmaceuticals.Govt initiatives to develop industrial corridors (SEZ)for industries to setup investments by providing world class infrastructure, tax breaks is a prudent step
            Another bold concept is the planning to develop smart cities across India. This single scheme has the huge potential to provide jobs on mass scale for unskilled and semiskilled labor force besides providing required residential dwellings for population . The worst affected and the most distressed class will eventually have financial security and stability as  construction is the biggest creator of jobs for the poor. It has the potential to alleviate poverty and transform India on an unprecedented scale but the bottleneck here is the unavailability of land under government. This drawback can be mitigated by prudent planning and creating consensus among stakeholders for mutual benefit of all. Any faltering on government parts can only lead to more inequality and unending loop towards obscurity for masses to end

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