Make in India
The Make in India initiative plan was unveiled by the Prime Minister of India in mid-2014 to trump up an elevated part of the Indian economic development plan. The significance of this plan lies in encouraging investors from both across the border as well as within the country to invest heavily in different sectors of the country. The prime objective of this plan is to facilitate large scale employment and skill development opportunities in 25 industries across India. It also planned to bring in changes in the existing policies, such as augmentation of quality standard and ample technology-transfer probability. The Make in India is more set to prop up 25 major sectors- primarily focusing more on the manufacturing sector and its ancillary industries. However, other sectors are also likely to be benefitted from this initiative. IT industry is one particular industry that supports several other industries by means of its service mechanism.
Impact on IT Industry
There are plenty of scopes for the IT businesses to grow significantly as a result of the collaborative effort from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) along with the support from various strata of the Indian Government. An online platform has been setup to provide comprehensive information on different sectors prevailing in India. Similarly, dedicated customer helpdesk kiosks and mobile based information application have been formed to facilitate Make in India program. It clearly implicates that IT led businesses will be crucial for the success of this plan.
Fig.1.Make in India focused sectors that are heavily reliant on IT services
The Make in India program clearly emphasizes the developmental goals of the above-mentioned sectors. Plus, the Indian Government is also allowing 100% foreign direct investment (FDIs) in majority of these sectors, except for defence, space and news & media.
Post launch of this program in 2015, India is becoming the popular destination for FDIs, leaving behind US and China. It is anticipated that India will also become the prospective hub of electronic manufacturing due to the rising demand for electronic hardware that will reach a USD 400 billion revenue market globally. The Make in India program focuses on to stop import of electronic goods completely by 2020 by creating a manufacture enabling environment. Several telecom and semiconductor manufacturing companies like Spice Telecom Group, Samsung, Hitachi, Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Foxconn, Wistron Corp, Qualcomm, and Vivo Mobile have initiated large scale manufacturing projects in different parts of India. As a result of this the IT industry is expecting bigger business gains in the coming years. A large number of India based IT companies would require to develop high level of software programs which would be embedded in the electronic systems. Apart from these companies, other companies such as GE, Walmart, BMW, and Honda have developed manufacturing setups in India. Most of these companies are collaborating with the Indian IT companies to support their units virtually. Thus the multiplier effect of Make in India program will immensely benefit the overall IT industry in India.
However, the IT industry is expected to pose a subtle threat for the success of “Make in India” program. Majority of manufacturing setups are getting chance to develop locally due to government initiatives. The Government of India is planning to offer low cost intensive labour for majority of foreign investors. Here lies the problem, since right from the inception of IT industry in India, most IT based companies offer high salary package to their employees. This is one of the reason why most graduates focus on becoming IT experts. Since the Indian Government is determined to offer low labor cost for the investors, it is very unlikely to find expert or skilled resources at a low cost. For instance, a mechanical engineer will not be interested to take up a job at manufacturing set up due to poor salary package, he or she may be interested to focus on IT industry.
Conclusion: The overall benefit of Make in India initiative will be immense for the overall IT and Business Process Management (BPM) industry, since many other IT aided industries will see a significant growth due to large scale government intervention. Although, the IT industry may pose somewhat threat for the success of this program as a result of maximum focusing of Indian workforce on IT career. It is important for the Government to develop numerous training institutes for developing manufacturing skills among the youth of India.
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