Manufacturing to determine India's growth path, says Piyush Goyal

Goyal argued some of the issues faced by companies in India revolve around land and lack of infrastructure

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday that manufacturing will determine the direction of India’s growth trajectory, adding that India can achieve far more through a robust manufacturing sector.

Speaking at the Ficci: CEO Roundtable Viksit Bharat — India Manufacturing Leaders’ Forum, Goyal emphasised that manufacturing has been pivotal to India’s development, growing at a similar rate to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) — 7-8 per cent. He underscored that manufacturing will be key to realising the vision of a Viksit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047.

Goyal noted that while India’s GDP is accelerating, manufacturing sector growth remains relatively stagnant, accounting for 15-16 per cent of the GDP — a figure that has held steady for the past two decades. “This means that despite faster GDP growth, manufacturing remains at the same level,” he said.

 

On the one hand, maintaining this level is positive, but Goyal stressed that for a nation of 1.4 billion people, with a burgeoning population of skilled graduates, “India can do much more”.

He urged domestic companies to support one another by purchasing Indian-made products, which would strengthen the sector and shield firms from future disruptions like the pandemic.

“An Indian company buying from another Indian company creates a resilient ecosystem. It helps insulate and secure businesses from disruptions. We’ve seen two wars, the Red Sea crisis, monkeypox, and now the threat of another pandemic — we have enough to be worried about globally,” Goyal remarked while addressing industry leaders virtually.

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet approved the creation of 12 industrial smart cities across 10 states and six major industrial corridors, with a total investment of Rs 28,602 crore. These cities aim to address the lack of physical and social infrastructure around industrial units and bolster India’s manufacturing capabilities.

Goyal noted that some of the main challenges faced by companies in India revolve around land and infrastructure shortages. He argued that these issues could be alleviated by the development of industrial smart cities, which will feature ‘plug-and-play’ and ‘walk-to-work’ infrastructure.

He added that four industrial parks are currently under development: Dholera (Gujarat), Vikram Udyogpuri (Madhya Pradesh), Shendra Bidkin (Maharashtra), and Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh). These projects have already attracted committed investments of Rs 1.72 trillion and involve the sale of 3,500 acres of developed land.

“The goal is balanced regional development across the country. The estimated potential is about 1 million jobs and $20 billion in investment, which seems conservative when you consider the current implementation of the four industrial parks," Goyal observed.

He further expressed confidence that the newly announced 12 industrial cities would unlock even greater opportunities for manufacturing and urged industrialists to plan their investments in these parks.

“We are also focused on integrating India into global value chains and facilitating the establishment of global capability centres (GCCs). Currently, half of the world’s companies have some presence in India through GCCs. On our end, we’re working on enhancing the ease of doing business, but we welcome ideas from our industry partners,” he added.

Goyal also stressed the importance of industry-government collaboration in ensuring the success of various government initiatives related to manufacturing and skilling. He urged manufacturers to actively engage with the government, adding, “Much has been achieved, but there is still much more to be done in the days ahead”.

(With inputs from PTI)