Make in India fails to generate adequate jobs; lack of funding options force Indian firms to up imports: L&T chief AM Naik

Larsen and Toubro chairman AM Naik has said that the government’s Make in India initiative has failed to achieve the set goals especially in local manufacturing and employment generation, according to a media report. Naik, who also heads the National Skill Development Corp (NSDC), said that the Make in India programme failed to spur jobs and it was necessary to find out why most Indian companies prefer to import instead of manufacture in the country, said a report in Mint. [caption id=“attachment_3961485” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file image of AM Naik. Reuters[/caption] The L&T chief attributed the lack of adequate financing options to high imports and said that more often, imports come with a credit facility, the report said. On Saturday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave his nod for a panel to review defence procurement procedure in a bid to strengthen the Make in India programme, said a report in India Today. Accordingly, the panel will revise and align the procedures for ensuring seamless flow from asset acquisition to life cycle support, said the report. In February this year, a study revealed that the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) flagship manufacturing programme did not succeed to make India a major manufacturing hub, said a report in Mint. Though the government succeeded in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) which reached a peak of Rs 2.8 trillion, FDI in the manufacturing sector remained sluggish, said the report citing CMIE data. Meanwhile, the government is devising a plan to attract the medical devices industry to start local production under the Make in India programme, reported The Economic Times.  NITI Aayog, the government’s think tank, is working on the plan with an aim to make the country a centre of medical equipment and initially, diagnostic devices to screen for cancer and heart diseases would be made, said the report.