'Make in India' a lion's step in making Indian industry competitive: ASSOCHAM

The President of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Rana Kapoor, on Thursday said that the 'Make in India' initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is truly a lion's step in making India a global manufacturing hub.

He said that Prime Minister Modi's assurance to the Indian and global investors that they would not lose and only gain by investing in the country will go a long way in instilling trust and confidence among all sections of the industry..

"The Prime Minister's focus on 'Effective and Easy governance' by making his bureaucracy walk two steps ahead is something which will make a big difference to the 'Ease of doing business' in India. His new thinking of tackling the waste management in 500 cities and integrated development of key infrastructure with port being hub and warehouses, roads, rail and airport as spokes will surely reduce the transaction costs and improve India's competitiveness," said Kapoor.

"Another important initiative of the programme is reaching out to the states for facilitating and promoting investment in manufacturing. Significantly, the major initiative has been unveiled on a day when the Prime Minister is embarking on a very important visit to the US where his interaction with top CEOs of the world would be reassuring to industry across the world," he added.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi launched the 'Make in India' initiative whose objective is to make India a manufacturing hub by attracting foreign companies to set up their manufacturing units.

Addressing a gathering consisting of top global CEOs at the event in Vigyan Bhawan here, Prime Minister Modi said 'FDI' should be understood as 'First Develop India' along with 'Foreign Direct Investment'. He urged the investors not to look at India merely as a market, but instead see it as an opportunity.

Prime Minister Modi said it is important for the purchasing power of the common man to increase, as this would further boost demand, and hence spur development, in addition to benefiting investors.

Prime Minister Modi said that India is the only country in the world that offers the unique combination of democracy, demography, and demand. He said the new government was taking initiatives for skill development to ensure that skilled manpower was available for manufacturing. He also referred to the Digital India mission, saying this would ensure that government processes remained in tune with corporate processes.

Prime Minister Modi further said that he had felt a mood of gloom among India's business community in the last few years due to lack of clarity on policy issues. He said he had heard even Indian businessmen say that they would leave India and set up business elsewhere. The Prime Minister said this hurt him, and added that no Indian business should feel a compulsion to leave the country under any circumstances.

He said on the basis of the experience of the last few months, he could say that the gloom has lifted.

The Prime Minister gave the example of the new Government's initiative on self-certification of documents, and said this was illustrative of how the new government trusted the citizens.

To the expression "Look East," the Prime Minister Modi added "Link West", and said a global vision was essential. He said Mission Swachh Bharat and "waste to wealth" could lead to good revenue models for business as well.

He referred to his vision of waste water management and solid waste mangement in 500 towns across India through public private partnership.

Prime Minister Modi also spoke of infrastructure of the future – including i-ways besides highways – and mentioned port led development, optical fibre networks, gas grids and water grids.

He also unveiled the Make in India logo and launched the website makeinindia.com.