 "Make in India")
Being home to Bollywood, Mumbai is quite used to extravaganzas. But the financial capital of India will wake up on Saturday to what is being described as the mother of all events — Make in India Week. Not only will almost every minister and top officer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government be there, several global CEOs including Volvo’s Martin Lundstedt, Oracle’s Safra Catz and AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes, would announce their India-specific plans.
Some of other top attendees are: Cisco’s John Chambers, Saab Group’s Hakan Buskhe, Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani, Tata Sons’ Ratan Tata, M&M’s Anand Mahindra, Aditya Birla group’s Kumar Mangalam Birla, JSW Steel’s Sajjan Jindal, Pepsico India’s D Shivakumar and IKEA India’s Juvencio Maeztu.
Around 9,000 delegates would participate in the week-long event which would hold seminars and exhibitions on specific sectors at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). “It was important to exhibit what has been achieved and therefore Make in India Week is going to be the largest multi-sectoral exhibition in Asia. Indian manufacturing will be on full display with all its power here,” Amitabh Kant, secretary of Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy told Business Standard.
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“This is the time for India to demonstrate its ability in manufacturing and increase it further. India is growing at 7.4 per cent and is accelerating fast. The increase in demand will further expand its manufacturing base and the Make in India will showcase the innovation and design of India,” Kant added.
The Indian government is encouraging investments in the backdrop of falling industrial output, rising non-performing assets of banks and falling stock markets. With a global economic crisis roiling the stock markets, the business confidence needs a booster, say CEOs.
The DIPP has short-listed more than 11 sectors as investment destinations and has asked Indian companies and 17 states to offer incentives and sign agreements with businesses. The BJP-led government in Maharashtra expects to sign investment agreements worth over Rs 4 lakh crore at the event.
Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the Make In India Centre at the sprawling MMRDA grounds in BKC on Saturday morning. An exhibition on innovation by the best of Indian technology institutes would also be inaugurated by Modi.
The event’s size can be gauged by the fact that more than 3,500 workers have worked 24x7 to give the finishing touches to 27 mega halls being constructed on 2,20,000 sq mt area for exhibitions as well as state and sector-specific seminars. Country pavilion would include exhibitions from Sweden, Germany and South Korea. Over 190 exhibitors plan to showcase manufacturing prowess of the country across focus sectors.
The bad news though is from tomorrow, Mumbai commuters can expect traffic snarls even though the local police have deployed over 10,000 officers on duty. The Indian Air Force is conducting aerial survey of the event venues.
“It was important to exhibit what has been achieved and therefore Make in India Week is going to be the largest multi-sectoral exhibition in Asia. Indian manufacturing will be on full display with all its power here,” said Kant.
