Small and medium-scale enterprises in the manufacturing sector have huge opportunities to tap through the “Make in India” initiative, Jagat Shah, founder and chief mentor of Cluster Pulse, said here on Friday.
He was here to speak at a meeting organised at the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, as part of the Mentor on Road programme.
Mr. Shah is visiting 35 cities in the country as part of the programme and Coimbatore is the 17{+t}{+h}city. Making a presentation on “International Market Access and Innovative Opportunities to Make in India”, he said that with 65 per cent of the country’s population aged below 35, job opportunities need to be created for the youth. Large companies in the manufacturing sector usually bring in automation.
It is the small and medium-scale enterprises that generate jobs. The ‘Make in India’ project involves attracting investments from foreign companies to manufacture here and also to give a boost to the local SMEs. “Make is India is about manufacturing and SMEs,” he said.
In countries such as China and Indonesia, the contribution of manufacturing sector to the GDP is high compared to India. And, in India, just eight States contribute to 70 per cent of the country’s manufacturing. There should be equitable spread of manufacturing activity. ‘Make in India’ focuses on about 180 products that are completely imported.
These include telecom, power, and defence equipment and portable digital computers.
The proposal is to start making at least 30 of these products in the country in one year.
The technology for many of these might be with overseas companies.
