India must boost manufacturing to increase share in global value chains: FM Sitharaman

Sitharaman emphasised that the importance of developing greater sophistication in manufacturing can be hardly exaggerated and India should not look away from strengthening such capabilities contrary to the advice of some economists.

“Despite certain economists advising India to move away from manufacturing or to avoid increasing manufacturing capacities, I firmly advocate for the expansion of manufacturing. It's crucial to emphasise the necessity of enhancing our manufacturing sector. We must strive for greater sophistication in our product manufacturing capabilities,” she said at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Annual Business Summit in New Delhi.

Reiterating Modi government’s stance, Sitharaman said the government considers the private sector as a partner in creating initiatives and sees it playing a big role in attaining the target of becoming a developed country by 2047.

She underscored that the government would act as a “facilitator and an enabler” for the private sector in this endavour.

Sitharaman attributed India’s steady growth amid geopolitical challenges to “policy stability, absence of flip-flops, and corruption-free decision-making.”

The facilitation is going on both in “legislative and in the legal frameworks simultaneously” as the industry has apprised the government about the rapid changes required in our compliance regime.

India’s demographic dividend will be available for the next 30 years added advantage of the lowest dependency ratio.

She also referred to the International Monetary Fund’s estimation that India would back 18 percent of the global growth for five years starting from 2023.

From 78% import dependence in 2014, 99% of mobiles used in India are made in the country because of the production-linked incentive scheme (PLI), Sitharaman said.

Value addition in electronics and smartphone manufacturing has grown significantly, rising from negligible levels in 2014-15 to over 20 percent, she stated.

India is going to be Apple's second-largest manufacturing hub for iPhones outside of China, Sitharaman highlighted.