“States should accord top priority to the soon-to-be-launched National Manufacturing Mission (NMM). States should encourage manufacturing, boost ‘ease of doing business’, and strengthen the Services sector”. This was stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 5th national conference of Chief Secretaries in the national capital, which concluded on Dec 28, said a PIB release.
PM stated that nearly 70 per cent of the population is in the working-age group, creating a unique historical opportunity which, when combined with economic progress, can significantly accelerate India’s journey towards Viskit Bharat, added the PIB Release.
The release added that PM emphasised the need to strengthen ‘aatmanirbharta’, stating that India must pursue self-reliance with zero defect in products and minimal environmental impact, making the label ‘Made in India’ synonymous with quality, added the release. PM added that Viksit Bharat is synonymous with quality and excellence in governance, delivery and manufacturing.
Tourism and sports also found mentions in the conference. PM highlighted that India has a rich heritage and history with the potential to be among the top global tourist destinations, and the sector can play a huge role for livelihoods of youth, said the release. He also said that it is important to align the Indian sports calendar with the global sports calendar.
Manufacturing and Services have often figured in debates among economists while discussing India’s economic trajectory. While working on its anniversary issue on Viksit Bharat, BW Businessworld recently asked questions around Manufacturing, Services to top economists in the government. Chairman, EAC-PM, Mahendra Dev, in response to a question had said: “… India has a diversified industrial sector ranging from textiles, electronics, automobiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc. The services sector needs an expanding manufacturing sector. Thus, some of the growth in Services is due to expanding manufacturing. One should not conclude about the contribution of manufacturing by just looking at the share of manufacturing in GDP...” In a separate interview, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswara, in response to a question, had said, “…The states in India are diverse. Some have strengths in agriculture; some in manufacturing; some in tourism, some in services and a few in all or some combination. Individual states can be advised to follow their core strength. But, a country as large and diverse as India cannot afford a concentration risk by focusing exclusively on one sector over others. India needs to raise agricultural productivity, pursue a higher manufacturing share of GDP and focus on labour-intensive and high value-added services. The manufacturing sector can be a combination of labour-intensive manufacturing in some states and capital-intensive manufacturing in others.”
For the last few years, Viksit Bharat has informed a host of policy initiatives. Government leaders have also said that public welfare, infrastructure, innovation & enterprise form the three pillars of the said roadmap. PM Modi first talked about Viksit Bharat in his 2021 Independence Day speech. In his 2022 speech, the PM outlined ‘Panch Pran’ to actualise the Viksit Bharat vision. ‘Aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) has been described as a subset of the said economic blueprint, and the imprint of the ongoing reforms in the Defence sector was visible during Operation Sindoor. |
