Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized the ‘Make in India’ initiative as a key focus area in her Union Budget presentation on February 1, 2024. This ambitious program, launched in 2014, aims to boost domestic manufacturing and drive economic growth by fostering innovation and attracting investments.
Understanding the Make in India Initiative
The Make in India mission is designed to enhance India’s global manufacturing footprint. It seeks to facilitate investment, drive innovation, improve skill development, safeguard intellectual property, and create world-class manufacturing infrastructure. By fostering public-private partnerships, the government aims to enter new markets, innovate, and build critical infrastructure to support this vision.
According to the Economic Survey 2025 released on January 31, the industrial sector is projected to grow by 6.2% in the financial year 2025, further underscoring the importance of the Make in India initiative.
Launch of the National Manufacturing Mission
The Budget highlighted the launch of the National Manufacturing Mission, which will cater to small, medium, and large-scale industries. This mission will provide comprehensive policy support, roadmap execution, governance, and monitoring frameworks for both central ministries and states.
The mission’s focus areas include enhancing ease and cost of doing business, building a skilled workforce, strengthening the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, ensuring technology availability, and fostering the production of high-quality goods.
Policy Measures to Boost Domestic Manufacturing
The Budget introduced several policy measures to support the growth of domestic manufacturing and encourage value addition. Here are some key initiatives:
Critical Minerals
The Budget extended BCD (Basic Customs Duty) exemptions to 15 critical minerals not readily available domestically, including cobalt powder, waste, scrap from lithium-ion batteries, lead, zinc, and others. This move aims to encourage their processing, particularly by MSMEs.
Textiles
The textile sector goal is to support the Make in India program and rectify the inverted duty structure. This includes increasing BCD on Interactive Flat Panel Displays to 20% and reducing BCD on open cells and other components to 5%. Additionally, BCD exemptions were extended to LCD/LED TVs to boost local manufacturing.
Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturing
With a focus on boosting domestic lithium-ion battery production for mobile phones and electric vehicles, 35 additional capital goods for EV battery manufacturing and 28 additional capital goods for mobile battery production were added to the list of exempted capital goods.
Shipping Sector
The shipping sector received a BCD exemption on raw materials, components, and parts for ship manufacturing for another ten years. Shipbreaking rates were also retained to enhance competitiveness.
Telecommunication
The Budget aimed to prevent classification disputes by reducing BCD on Carrier Grade Ethernet Switches from 20% to 10%, aligning it with Non-Carrier Grade switches.
First-Time Entrepreneurs
A new scheme was launched to provide term loans of up to ₹2 crore over five years for 5 lakh first-time entrepreneurs, including women, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes.
Labour-Intensive Sectors
The focus product scheme for the footwear and leather sectors aims to create 22 lakh jobs, generate ₹4 lakh crore in turnover, and achieve over ₹1.1 lakh crore in exports. The toy sector will focus on developing innovative and sustainable toys representing the ‘Made in India’ brand. Additionally, a National Institute of Food Technology will be established in Bihar to boost farmers’ income and create employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Micro-enterprises
The Budget revised the MSME classification criteria to enhance technological upgradation, scale efficiencies, and capital access. Investment and turnover limits for all MSMEs were increased by 2.5 and 2 times respectively. Credit guarantee cover was increased from ₹5 crore to ₹10 crore for MSMEs, and up to ₹5 lakh customised credit cards will be issued to micro-enterprises registered on the Udyam portal.
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The Future of Manufacturing in India
The Union Budget’s focus on the Make in India initiative and the launch of the National Manufacturing Mission signal a strong commitment to enhancing India’s manufacturing sector. By providing targeted support, the government aims to nurture a robust manufacturing ecosystem that fosters innovation, التعليم, and job creation.
These efforts are crucial as they not only strengthen India’s industrial base but also position the country as a global manufacturing leader. As India continues to implement these measures, we can anticipate significant progress in achieving the goals of the Make in India initiative.
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