| Summary/Abstract |
The policy debate on manufacturing in India often gets confounded by a poor articulation of its objectives and by a weak rationale for its industrial structure. The 2013 Economic Survey of India put its finger neatly on one of the objectives and a key issue at stake here—the extent and quality of employment1—though the UPA2 government could not implement its own manufacturing policy during its tenure. That a robust manufacturing helps build deep technological capabilities in our society, thereby making the nation strategically strong, escapes much of our policy thinking. Whether the NDA3 government’s “Make in India” plan will change the face of India (a potential that exists) or will it just remain a slogan of intent will depend, to a large extent, on our understanding of the second aspect of the policy confusion in manufacturing—why do we do, what we do and how we do it—the rationale behind the our industrial structure and the resulting competitiveness or lack of it.
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