His Excellency,  the Prime Minister of Sweden;

His Excellency, the Prime Minister of Finland;

His Excellency, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Poland;

Ministers,  Excellencies and Dignitaries  from other countries;   

Governor of Maharashtra;

Chief Minister of Maharashtra;

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry;

Invitees,  Industry Leaders, Ladies and Gentlemen! 

I am delighted  to be part of the celebrations  of the “Make in India Week.”  I welcome you all  to Mumbai,  the commercial capital of India.  I particularly welcome  our friends from abroad  and thank them  for their active participation.  I thank  the Government of Maharashtra  for hosting this event.  I also thank  other States  for their active participation.

Friends!

When I look back  at the launch  of the Make in India initiative  over a year ago,  I also recall  the aspirations  of our youth. 65 per cent  of the population of India  is under the age of 35.  This youthful energy  is our greatest strength.

We launched  the Make in India campaign  to create employment  and self-employment opportunities  for our youth.  We are working aggressively towards making India  a Global Manufacturing Hub.  We want  the share of manufacturing  in our GDP  to go up to 25 per cent  in the near future.  

We were also aware that under the pressure of this campaign, the government machinery will be required to make  a number of corrections  on the policy front.  

We are committed  to make India  an easy place to do business.  

We want to present  to the world  the enormous opportunities  that India offers  as a base for manufacturing,  design,  research  and development.  

Make in India week  is an opportunity  to take stock  of how we have performed.  And what could be  the road ahead.  

This event will show-case  different aspects of the progress  that we have made.  This is the biggest  multi-sectoral event  and exhibition  ever held in India.  I encourage all of you  to see for yourselves  the direction that India is taking.

Let me take this opportunity  to share my thoughts.

In a year’s time,  Make in India has become  the biggest brand  that India has ever created.  Both within  and outside the country,  it has captured the imagination of people,  institutions,  industries,  media  and the political leadership.  

This is because:

·         It reflects  our collective desire  to engage in productive activities;

·         It also reflects  the global need  to produce things  at lower cost.

·         It is forcing us  to make corrections  and increase efficiency;  

·         It has emboldened us  to integrate with the world  on equal terms.   

Let me give you  some concrete examples  of what we have done:  

Today,  India is perhaps  the most open country for FDI.  Most of the FDI sectors  have been put  on automatic approval route.  

Our FDI inflows  have gone up by 48 per cent  since the day my Government came into office.  In fact,  FDI inflow in December, 2015  was the highest ever  in this country.  This is,  at a time,  when global FDI  has fallen substantially.

We have carried out  a number of corrections  on the taxation front.  We have said  that we will not resort  to retrospective taxation.  And I repeat this commitment  once again.  We are also  swiftly working towards  making our tax regime  transparent,  stable  and predictable.  

We have laid  all round emphasis  on Ease of Doing Business.  In the manufacturing sector,  we have taken decisive steps  to simplify processes  and rationalize provisions.  This includes licensing,  cross-border trade,  security  and environmental clearances.  We have announced  attractive schemes  in several sectors  including electronics and textiles.

We have made  substantial policy corrections  in the defence sector.  From licensing to offset regime  and export regime,  we have given what the defence industry was looking for.  

Smooth and transparent allocation of natural resources  is another example.  The advantages from this  are two-fold:  On one hand  the production  of such resources  has gone up.  On the other hand,  the transparent regime  that we have established  provides a level playing field  among users and stake-holders.  

This year,  we will record  the highest ever coal production.  Also,  2015 was the year  when India’s highest ever generation  of electricity was recorded.

On the issue  of safety of properties and rights,  we have already enacted a law  for fast tracking  of arbitration proceedings.  We are establishing  dedicated Commercial Courts  and Commercial Divisions  in High Courts.  The formation of the Company Law Tribunal is at the final stage.  

Soon  we shall be putting in place  an effective IPR Policy  and patent regime.  We hope to pass  the bankruptcy law  which has been tabled in Parliament.

Hence,  on the front of policy and procedure,  we have made  our systems cleaner,  simpler,  pro-active  and business friendly.  

I believe  in Minimum Government and Maximum Governance.  Therefore,  almost on a daily basis,  we are trying  to remove the bottlenecks   that were affecting investments and growth.

It is good to see  that changes and corrections  are taking place  not just  at the level of the Federal Government  but also at the state level.  States are now  in healthy competition  to provide ease of business  and infrastructure linkages.

The results  have been encouraging.

India has become  the fastest growing large economy  in the world.  We will end  this fiscal year  with well over seven per cent  growth in GDP.  IMF,  World Bank,  OECD,  ADB  and other institutions  have projected  even better growth  in the coming days.  

In 2014-15,  India contributed  12.5 per cent of global growth.  Its contribution to global growth  is 68 per cent higher  than its share  of the world economy.

Let me also mention  some other indicators:

·         India has consistently been ranked  as the most attractive investment destination  by several global agencies  and institutions.

·         We have jumped twelve ranks  in the latest global ranking  by the World Bank  on ease of doing business.

·         India has improved  its UNCTAD ranking  of investment attractiveness, from fifteenth,  to ninth.

·         India has jumped  sixteen places  on the World Economic Forum’s  global competitive index.

·         Moody’s has upgraded  the rating of India  as positive.

The momentum  of the Make in India campaign  has given us confidence.  It motivates us  to make  our policies and processes  easier and friendlier.

With this background,  I invite  and encourage you  to make India your work place;  and also your home.

Friends!

We are particularly keen  to scale up investments  in next generation infrastructure.  This includes  roads,  ports,  railways,  airports,  telecom,  digital networks  and clean energy.  

We are also investing  in our social,  industrial  and agricultural infrastructure  to give better income  and quality of life  to our people.  

So far,  it was our implementation capacity  that was the biggest bottleneck.  We have speeded up processes.  The result  is faster turn-around of projects.  India’s highest ever kilometers  of new highway contracts awarded  was in 2015.

Similarly,  the increase in railway capital expenditure  was the highest this year.  

Thus,  whether it is physical  or social infrastructure;  we are executing it  much more efficiently  than ever before.

Another bottleneck was financing.  To enhance financing,  we are trying innovative ways.  We are opening up  our Greenfield and Brownfield projects  for Public Private Partnership.  With strong fiscal discipline,  and by plugging leakages,  we are trying to provide more resources  for infrastructure.  

We have also set up  the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.  We have come up  with the mechanism of Tax Free Infrastructure Bonds  for projects in rail,  road  and irrigation sectors.  We are working  with a number of countries,  financial markets  and funds  on these financial instruments.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

India is a land  of immense opportunities.  Fifty of our cities  are ready  for setting up Metro Rail Systems.  We have to build  fifty million houses.  The requirement of road,  rail  and waterways  is enormous.  There is no time  for incremental changes.   We want a quantum jump. 

We have also decided  to do this  in a cleaner and greener way.  That is why,  we have made a commitment  to the world community  at the recent COP-21 meeting in Paris.  Hence,  we are going for renewable energy  in a big way  - 175 Gigawatts.  

I lay great stress  on zero defect  and zero effect  manufacturing.  We place high emphasis on energy efficiency,  water re-cycling, waste to energy,  clean India  and river cleaning.  These initiatives  are directed at improving  quality of life  in cities and villages.  These initiatives provide you  additional avenues for investment  in technologies,  services  and human resources.

Friends!

India is blessed  with three Ds.  These are:  Democracy,  Demography  and Demand.  To this, we have added the fourth D  that is Deregulation.  Today’s India  is this four dimensional India.  

Our judicial systems  are independent and time tested.  

You will not find  all these elements  in any other country.  

With these strengths,  India offers you  a solid platform  to test and launch  your making  and designing capabilities.  In addition,  our maritime location  makes it easy  to market products  in several other continents.

We are trying  to further enable  and harness this vast potential  with path-breaking initiatives.  Campaigns like Digital India  and Skill India  have been designed  to prepare people  to take part in this process.  We have launched  financing schemes  which are dedicated  to promote entrepreneurship.  We are giving loans  through MUDRA Bank  without any collateral.  I have also  impressed upon the Banks  to particularly finance  young entrepreneurs  belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes  as well as women entrepreneurs.

·         Only this  will realize  the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi  who wanted industries  to be run in Villages and Cottages.

·         Only this  will realize  the dreams of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar  who advocated the need  to move surplus labour  from agriculture  to other occupations.  

We are soon  going to  strengthen this process further  under the banner of Stand-up India.  

I feel that  today,  our domestic industry and investors  are feeling much more confident  and optimistic  in spite of an uncertain global situation.  

When we started  the Make in India campaign,  manufacturing growth in the country  was 1.7 per cent.  This year  it has improved substantially.  In the current quarter,  manufacturing growth  is expected be  around 12.6 per cent.

·         The composite PMI output index  has climbed to an eleven month high  of 53.3 per cent  in January 2016.

·         The total number  of investment proposals  during the last eight months  is higher by 27 per cent.

·         We have recorded  the highest ever production  of motor vehicles  in 2015.

·         As many as  fifty new mobile phone factories  were set up in the country  during past ten months.

·         Electronic manufacturing  has grown six-fold  to 18 million.

·         159 Electronic System Design and Manufacturing units,  popularly known as ESDM units  were established  in India in 2015.

·         As per estimates of certain agencies,  the Indian job market  is now on a strong footing.  For example,  the Monster Employment Index for India  stood at 229 in January 2016  which is up by 52 per cent  over January of last year.

Similarly,  on the trade front:

·         India’s highest ever software exports  were recorded in 2015.

·         Also in 2015,  our major ports handled  the highest ever quantity of cargo.

These are very good signs.  I would like  to give our industry  some friendly advice.  Don’t wait.  Don’t Relax.  There are immense opportunities  in India.  You should take advantage  of the renewed interest  of Global Players  to work in India.  Many of them  are looking for technological  and financial collaborations with Indian partners.  This includes high-tech sectors  and high-value areas  like defence production.  I assure you  that if you take one step;  we will walk two steps for you.

In a competitive world  improving managerial and technological capacity  is essential for survival  and growth.  From space shuttles  to pollution control;  from health to education;  from agriculture to services;  our young entrepreneurs and start-ups are showing us  newer and faster ways  for enterprise and delivery.  My Government is committed  to support them  and tap their energy fully.  We want our youth  to become job creators  rather than job seekers.  That is why,  we have launched  the Start up India Campaign.

We are keen  to find ways in which:

·         Our minds  are able to empower the hands;

·         Our hands  are able to master the machines;

·         Our machines  are able to make the best;

·         Our products  are able to beat the rest.

 

Make in India  is a drive to fulfill unmet demands  of the common man.  It is also an effort  to engage and empower  the unemployed.  I also emphasize  on Make for India;  so that human and sectoral needs  can be fulfilled.  I have heard  several global companies  talk about  their localization plans.  Thus,  this campaign  has the capacity  to boost the Indian economy  and also brighten  the global scenario.

Friends!

I have been saying  that this century  is Asia’s century.  My advice to you  is to Make India your center;  if you want this century  to be your century.  I invite everyone sitting here  and also those not here,  to be a part of India’s unfolding story.  

·         This is the best time ever  to be in India;

·         And it is even better  to Make in India.  

Thank You !

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