'Make in India': The Components of a Manufacturing Strategy for India

The share of manufacturing in India's GDP was only 16% in 1991 and has remained stagnant at that level until 2018. Employment in manufacturing has also remained stagnant at under 12.8% of the workforce. One reason is that India has not had a coherent industrial policy in place since 1991. Meanwhile, some 100 countries in the world have adopted industrial policies, especially since the global economic crisis of 2008. The paper begins by spelling out the reasons why India needs an industrial strategy. It goes on to spell out eight elements of what would constitute a manufacturing strategy for India, which would address the concerns of large corporates and small and medium enterprises, as well as micro-enterprises. We would argue that such a strategy will lay the foundations for an inclusive growth strategy for India, which will also create growing jobs for an increasing labour force.