Dr. Wilfried Aulbur

The vision of ‘Make in India' is to facilitate investment (both domestic and foreign), foster innovation, enhance skill development, protect intellectual property and to build a best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure in India.

Targets for this initiative have been clearly spelt out. Manufacturing sector growth should increase to 12-14 percent p.a. over the medium term, manufacturing's share in GDP should increase from 16 percent to 25 percent by 2022, and 100 million additional jobs should be created in the sector in the same time frame. These targets are ambitious. Adding 100 million jobs, for example, means tripling current employment in manufacturing.

Enablers have also been identified. Unnecessary processes, laws and regulations will be eliminated. Time-bound clearances will be given to projects through a single on-line portal. Appropriate skill sets will be inculcated through quality education. The government will be made more transparent, responsive and accountable and we will increase domestic value addition and technological depth.

All these points are laudable and timely. Is it then just a matter of consistent execution that will allow India to leverage her ‘demographic dividend' and become another factory to the world similar to China?

Can we capture the space that China seems to be vacating by moving from ‘Make in China' to ‘Innovate in China'? This paper argues that while it is possible to increase low-end manufacturing in the country in an effort to create jobs for all kinds of talents, the window of opportunity for the same is narrow and hence requires decisive action today.

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