Made in India label likely to be launched in first 100 days
The scheme may see inclusion of sectors where the end-product is “substantially” India-made
The government plans to formally launch the Made in India label scheme during the first 100 days if it comes back to power, three government officials said. “A large part of the work on the policy is done and the pilot roll-out in the steel sector has been successful. We plan to formally launch the scheme between June and September this year. It could be one of the first launches by the new government,” one of the officials said.
The official added that the scheme may see inclusion of other manufacturing sectors such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, and telecom and networking products, where the end- product is “substantially” India-made.
The government, as a pilot launched in November, had selected Jindal Stainless Steel and state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to launch Made in India branding in the steel sector.
“The roll-out in the steel sector has been successful and these two companies are doing it. Now, other sectors may see a similar roll out,” a second government official added.
Steel sector companies have rolled out the scheme on products that have been substantially made in India and are in the process of exporting them. The third official added that the launch of this scheme was earlier planned for late last year or early next year but that could not happen. The official refused to divulge the reason. “So, the launch of the scheme during the initial days of the government should happen,” this official said.
The launch of Made in India scheme is an extension of the government’s Make in India initiative that was launched in 2014.
During the pandemic, when the world was looking at reducing their supply chain dependence on China, India
2014
The year India launched the Make in India initiative announced various incentive schemes to attract manufacturing into the country.
These schemes included the Atmanirbhar Bharat packages, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes in 14 sectors, investment opportunities under the National Infrastructure Pipeline and National Monetization Pipeline and also the National Single Window System.
As a result global companies such as Wipro GE Healthcare have announced ₹8,000 crore investment to increase manufacturing in India.
Government data on PLI schemes– released in January this year–showed over ₹1.03 trillion of investment till November 2023. This investment, according to the government, has resulted in production/sales worth ₹8.61 trillion and created more than 678,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The scheme has also led to growth in exports in sectors that include electronics manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, food processing, and telecom & networking products. Government data shows that under the PLI schemes, as many as 746 applications have been given the nod with expected investment of over ₹3 trillion so far. Incentives of about ₹4,415 crore have been disbursed.
These branding initiatives are a push to help India increase its exports by around three times to reach the target of $2 trillion by 2030.
The country aims to increase exports by becoming a manufacturing hub for the world and is incentivising companies planning high end engineering in India like manufacturing semiconductors, airplane parts, etc.
The country’s export is also set to get a push with its plan to complete free trade agreements with various countries such as the UK, Oman and also look at countries in the Latin America for free trade agreements. India is trying to negotiate a hard bargain in all these trade agreements since the country offers a huge market to these companies due to its sheer population.
₹8,000 cr
Investment global firms have planned to aid mfg in India