NITI Aayog highlights 4 key sectors to position India as global manufacturing hub
New Delhi, Aug 13
NITI Aayog on Thursday highlighted four high-potential manufacturing sectors -- chemicals, textiles, telecom and network equipment and solar photovoltaic manufacturing -- which can fuel India's ambition to become global manufacturing powerhouse.
A NITI Aayog report, titled 'Key Sectors to Position India as a Global Manufacturing Hub,' focuses on understanding India's manufacturing landscape in relation to global trends, sectoral growth opportunities and global benchmarks.
It also examines the factors that influence manufacturing competitiveness, including market potential, infrastructure readiness, policy support, raw material availability, technology readiness, employment potential and India's current position in the value chain.
"The project seeks to identify sectors where India has significant growth potential and where targeted interventions can strengthen domestic capabilities, enhance competitiveness and value addition, and accelerate export-oriented manufacturing growth," according to an official statement.
This edition of the report focuses on four high-potential manufacturing sectors, to be followed by reports on eight more sectors.
The domestic chemicals industry is broadly led by three key consumption segments: petrochemicals and organic chemicals, specialty chemicals, and inorganic chemicals.
Petrochemicals and organic chemicals form the largest segment and include polymers, synthetic fibres, performance plastics, building blocks, intermediates and end-products.
"India's chemicals industry has significant potential to enhance domestic value addition by expanding downstream production and improving feedstock utilisation. Promoting domestic manufacturing, investments in competitiveness, and strategic use of FTAs can help reduce import dependence, strengthen downstream capabilities, and support sustainable industry growth," said the NITI Aayog report.
India's textile and apparel industry is one of the country's most important manufacturing sectors, contributing approximately 2 per cent to national GDP, 11 per cent to manufacturing GVA, and 9 per cent of merchandise exports.
India's textile industry has significant potential to strengthen its global competitiveness by improving raw material availability, scaling up manufacturing through infrastructure support, and expanding market access through deeper trade integration., said the report.
Notable, India is currently the world's second-largest telecommunications market with more than 1.2 billion subscribers, approximately 85 per cent telecom penetration, and nearly 75 per cent internet usage.
The report said that India's telecom and electronics sector has significant potential to enhance its global competitiveness by deepening localisation and strengthening domestic component manufacturing.
Key priorities include promoting joint ventures and technology transfer, developing integrated industrial clusters, expanding high-potential export segments, and strengthening testing, certification and skill development to support scale, innovation and productivity.
Moreover, India's solar manufacturing ecosystem has strong potential to deepen domestic value addition by strengthening upstream capabilities and reducing import dependence.
Key priorities include technology partnerships and joint ventures, greater R&D and performance-linked support, development of integrated clean-tech clusters, and industry-led skilling. Strengthening trade partnerships and G2G frameworks can also expand export opportunities and secure global market access, the report noted.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good to see textiles getting attention. Our handloom and traditional textile industry has so much potential, but we need infrastructure upgrades. Also, the telecom equipment sector is critical for our digital sovereignty. Let's hope these reports translate into concrete policy actions, not just documents.
The solar manufacturing sector is key! We import most of our solar cells from China. With the right PLI schemes and technology partnerships, we can become self-reliant and even export. But the government needs to move fast. 🙏
Interesting report, but I'm a bit skeptical. We hear these announcements often, but ground-level implementation is slow. The chemicals industry has been talking about reducing import dependence for years. Hope the follow-through is better this time.
The telecom sector is a no-brainer - we are the second largest market in the world and already have big players like Jio and Airtel. Strengthening local component manufacturing could create millions of jobs. Add integrated clusters like in China and we're golden.
Textile industry uses so many women workers and sustains livelihoods in small towns. Good that the report mentions improving raw materials and market access. But let's also focus on working conditions and fair wages for those at the bottom of the value chain.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.