‘Make in India’ is an initiative that was started back in September 2014 by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. The primary objective of this initiative is to create manufacturing firms within India to create more job opportunities and enhance the skills of the people of India across different sectors like automobile, aviation, biotechnology, defence manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, ports, railways, textile and much more. With this initiative, the Government of India hopes to bring in high-quality standards and minimise the impact on the environment.
The scope and potential, the breadth and length of infrastructure and related developments is very huge in India: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 16, 2015
Many companies are in support of the Make in India campaign. Companies from China like Alibaba and Xiaomi showed their full backing for the project. Alibaba Chairman said, “We are excited about India. We are excited about Make in India and Digital India.” Xiaomi President Lin Bin too, showed his support and stated, “We have some big plans for India. We fully support Make in India.”
@MEAIndia Trillions?
— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) May 16, 2015
In response to the Make in India call, The United Kingdom announced in January, about its campaign to forge collaborations with Indian companies. Dubbed as the ‘Great Collaboration’, it will be the first partnership between UK’s BP Petroleum company and India’s Reliance Industries Limited for developing and producing energy. The UK and the Indian Prime Ministers have already appreciated the financial ties between the two countries.
Many companies have started putting up manufacturing houses in India. Celkon, one of the leading cellphone players, is right now in the planning process of setting up its manufacturing firm in Medchal, Telangana. IT Minister, KT Rama Rao, said the manufacturing business unit will be set up within a few days after June and will begin with four production lines, and will eventually increase its capacity to higher levels.
Similarly, Foxconn Technology, who is one of the world’s largest contract makers of electronic products, is trying to develop 10-12 facilities in India, including factories by 2020. The Taiwan-based tech giant said that the company is in talks to manufacture Apple iPhones in India. This could lower the price on the world’s No.3 smartphone market where the US firm trails Samsung Electronics and local players.
Mercedes-Benz will be doubling its annual capacity in India to 20,000 units, thanks to the Make in India project. India will also be the first market to receive the GLA entry SUV outside of Germany.
“India is one of the focus markets for Mercedes-Benz internationally, and with the addition of a new plant, we are getting future ready,” said company India MD & CEO Eberhard Kern. The plant was inaugurated by Maharastra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar. With the addition of the GLA SUV to the assembly line, the company now makes six models locally which include C-, E-, S-Class sedans and the ML- and GL-Class SUVs. The CLA entry sedan will be added to the local assembly list later this year while the A- and B-Class models come in after that.
On a smaller scale, Amity scientists have developed a 100% safe, pure and indigenous herbal colours with absolutely no synthetic or harmful additives, in a bid to contribute towards Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. “The herbal colours indigenously produced at Amity, when used extensively in all the industries, will herald a revolution in the country, which is reeling under the pressure of products loaded with synthetic components and chemicals,” said Harsha Kharkwal, faculty at Amity University.
In February 2015, Huawei opened a new research and development (R&D) campus in Bengaluru. It had invested $170 million to establish the research and development centre. In February 2015, Hitachi said it was committed to the initiative. It said that it would raise its employees in India from 10,000 to 13,000, and it would try to boost its revenues from India from ¥100 billion in 2013 to ¥210 billion. It said that an auto component plant will be set up in Chennai in 2016.
This initiative looks very promising. It is understandable that many more companies will join in, soon.This can create a lot of job opportunities here in India and improve the economic well-being of its masses.
Let us see how the campaign shapes up in the future.
You can also follow Make in India YouTube campaign here.
