Following up his Independence Day call, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to cut red tape to make it easy to do business as he launched the `Make in India' campaign last week, hours before leaving on a visit to the US. He said that FDI should mean First Develop India. The event to showcase India's potential as a manufacturing destination was attended by top industrialists, including Mukesh Ambani, Cyrus Mistry, Azim Premji, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Maruti Suzuki's Kenichi Ayukawa and Lockheed Martin's Phil Shaw, who pledged their support to the ambitious project.
Modi said the gloom of the past two to three years when industry wanted to shift abroad has lbeen over. He said the government would focus on building physical infrastructure as well as creating a digital network to make India a global hub for manufacturing goods ranging from cars to software, satellites to submarines, pharmaceuticals to ports and paper to power.
While Modi himself did not announce any big-ticket measures, union commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “With a view to providing flexibility in working hours, our government is amending a number of labour laws. We are fully committed to delicensing, deregulation and radical changes as we go along. We have an open mind.”
She noted that India has long been identified with red tapism, inspector raj and cumbersome rules and regulations that hinder smooth transaction of business. “We want to change and chart a new course, new path...Today's event is being held after taking serious note of measures on ease of doing business,” Sitharaman said. Modi said the ‘Make in India’ campaign is a “lion’s step” towards making the country a destination for global manufacturing. “We don’t have to tell the world our address, there will be a Vasco da Gama in every nook and corner,” he said.
Chinese businessmen show interest
Meanwhile, more than 200 representatives from some of China's biggest companies gathered to listen to Modi's 'Make in India' speech in Beijing in an indication of China Inc's high level of interest in boosting its investment and manufacturing presence in India.
Indian officials expect companies from the world's second largest economy to play "a key role" in 'Make in India' campaign as evinced by the setting up of two China-dedicated industrial parks in Vadodara and Pune when President Xi Jinping visited last week.
A top Chinese official said that Modi's campaign could provide "a great platform" to Chinese enterprises for boosting their investment in India. "We hope the Indian government may provide preferential policies and guidelines to smooth the process of investment and provide facilities to investors of both countries," said Lin Dajian, deputy director general of Foreign Affairs Department of National Development and Reform Commission, China's powerful planning body. "We hope to make our annual economic dialogue with India a key platform for the 'Make in India' strategy," Lin said.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had called to upgrade the world renowned 'Made in China' label- associated with low-cost manufacturing- as the economy focuses more on services and high-tech sectors.
Zhao Yan, executive chairman of China's Top 500 foreign Trade Enterprises Club, said that hence there is increasing complementarity between the two countries with Chinese firms looking for overseas markets to shift manufacturing to lower their costs and as the focus of China's manufacturing shifts at home to high-tech sectors.
"With the 'Make in India' campaign," he said, "I believe we now have a great opportunity."
