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A draft National Strategy for the Manufacturing in India has been prepared by the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC). The Draft Strategy is expected to be finalised after obtaining inputs from the members and it will also be put on the website of the NMCC shortly for wider dissemination and comments from the larger cross section of the public and the industry.
The draft paper has given a 13-point strategy – covering 13 areas – for increasing the share of manufacturing in India’s GDP and for securing a larger share of the global market viz. (i) Enhancement of government focus on manufacturing imperatives and competitiveness; (ii) Creating conditions for the growth of the manufacturing sector; (iii) Lowering cost of manufacture; (iv) Investing in innovations; (v) Strengthening education and training; (vi) Adoption of global best practices in manufacturing; (vii) Right market framework, competition and regulations; (viii) Promotion of small and medium industries; (ix) Enabling public sector manufacturing industries to meet competitive market conditions; (x) Infrastructure development (xi) Firm level competitiveness; (xii) Role of State Governments; and (xiii)Creating a monitoring mechanism & measuring performance.
The strategy paper, which has identified the areas of policy and outlines the strategy directions that need to be pursued in order to realise higher levels of growth and employment, was discussed in detail by NMCC at its third meeting recently chaired by Dr. V.K. Krishnamurthy, Chairman/NMCC and attended by Shri V. Govindarajan, Member Secretary and others. The various challenges facing Indian manufacturing are analysed in the strategy paper, which focusses on creating conditions for growth, investment & employment, including the importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and Information Technology (IT) in the manufacturing sector.
The contribution of the Indian manufacturing sector in India’s GDP is only about 17%, which is lower compared to the figure of 25% to 35% in some of the East Asian economies. Manufacturing has been recognised as the main engine for growth of the economy and employment and competitiveness is central to robust growth of the manufacturing sector. This sector is crucial for providing jobs directly or indirectly for the large work force entering the job market every year, particularly from the rural areas, and hence, the significance of the national strategy for the sector which is now being formulated.
NMCC is coordinating with about 25 ministries on the various concerns of the manufacturing sector in order to provide the way forward. It would also ensure continuous dialogue with the state governments and work towards implementation of the various recommendations through the concerned Ministries.
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