Make in India

Make in India was launched on 25 September 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with its public unveiling at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, as a flagship programme of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT, then DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Its founding objective was to raise the share of manufacturing in India's GDP to 25% (later recalibrated under the National Manufacturing Policy framework) and to create roughly 100 million additional jobs by stimulating both domestic and foreign direct investment. The lion logo, fashioned from cogwheels, signalled the intent to harness industrial momentum. The initiative originally identified 25 priority sectors — including automobiles, defence manufacturing, electronics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, renewable energy, and aviation — and was conceived as a demand-side complement to liberalised FDI norms permitting up to 100% FDI through the automatic route in many sectors.

Operationally, Make in India works through four pillars articulated at launch: new processes (treating ease of doing business as the cornerstone, reflected in India's rise on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2019), new infrastructure (industrial corridors such as the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor and the National Investment and Manufacturing Zones), new sectors (opening defence, insurance, railways, and construction to greater FDI), and a new mindset shifting government from regulator to facilitator. It is reinforced by allied schemes — Skill India, Digital India, Startup India, the Goods and Services Tax (2017), the dismantling of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (2017), and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes launched from 2020 across 14 sectors with an outlay exceeding ₹1.97 lakh crore.

In its current phase, often styled "Make in India 2.0," the programme dovetails with Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India), announced in May 2020, and with the PLI scheme that has driven notable success in mobile-phone manufacturing — India became a major smartphone assembler and net exporter, with firms such as Foxconn and Apple's contract manufacturers scaling Indian production. Defence indigenisation lists ("positive indigenisation lists") issued by the Ministry of Defence and semiconductor incentives under the India Semiconductor Mission (2021) extend the agenda. Critics note that manufacturing's GDP share has stagnated near 15–17% rather than reaching 25%, and that import dependence on China for components persists, illustrating the gap between policy ambition and structural outcomes.

For UPSC, Make in India is tested in the General Studies Paper III economy section (planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, industrial policy) and in the science-and-technology context of indigenisation and high-tech manufacturing. Typical question angles include: comparing Make in India with Atmanirbhar Bharat; evaluating why the 25% manufacturing target remains unmet; assessing PLI schemes as an instrument; and linking the initiative to FDI liberalisation and ease-of-doing-business reforms. Prelims may probe launch year, nodal ministry (DPIIT), the four pillars, and the count of priority sectors. Aspirants should marshal data, name allied schemes, and offer balanced critique rather than promotional description.