Government begins review of 'Make in India' targets

NEW DELHI: Twenty months after the launch of the Makein-India campaign, the government has begun assessing the impact of the PM Narendra Modi's flagship programme and is looking to even tweak some of the elements. "We have suggested to ministries that the programme can be reviewed and new elements brought in where there are good recommendations from the industry," industrial policy and promotion

secretary Ramesh Abhishek said. The government is looking to promote local manufacturing across several sectors such as automobiles, auto parts, defence, leather, pharma and textiles through Make in India, which was announced by Modi in his Independence Day speech in 2014.

The stock-taking is me ant to ensure that the targets set for the sectors are met and to also address criticism that Make-in-India does not remain a mere slogan with little to show on the ground.

Of the over 20 sectors covered by Make-in-India, a review has been completed for food processing, railways, IT and tourism. Over the past two years, Abhishek said, the review has shown that over $1 billion has flowed into the food processing sector through FDI apart from large investment by Indian companies. The FDI list includes ne arly 40 companies such as Mondalez, Kellogg's and Mars. In addition, 32 lakh tonne capacity had been added to cold chains with investment estimated at around Rs 9,000 crore, which is capable of reducing wastage by around 10% annually.

Food processing secretary A K Srivastava said the government is taking more steps to boost investment in the sector. He said around 100 new cold chain projects are planned, while six more mega food parks were on the anvil. "To promote foreign investment, we have said we will give two or three extra marks to the marking scheme if you bring in foreign equity of 26%," Srivastava said.

Over the last two years, 51 cold chain projects have been completed and six mega food parks have been operationalized since June 2014.