I / Bangalore April 6, 2006
| Infosys chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy said that India should aim at becoming a hub for manufacturing after establishing itself as a software services outsourcing destination. |
| "Making India an outsourcing and offshore manufacturing destination in a big way would create millions of jobs for those now in rural areas," he said at the inauguration of a global meet on customs in the city today. |
| He added that India has to go beyond software and include manufacturing like China. |
| He said 26% of the GDP of India is produced by a whopping 65% of the people in rural areas by way of agriculture. "It means that one is looking at $320 (per person per capita GDP) for 65% of people. What it means is less than a dollar a day. |
| "If we have to make life better for the rural people and give them reasonable standards of living, disposable income, healthcare and nutrition and education, I personally believe we have to look at low-tech manufacturing to start with and then high-tech manufacturing in a big way just as China has done because most of these people are semi-literate or educated at a very basic level." |
