‘Make-in India’ led to a record $60 bn FDI inflow in FY’17: Comm Min

The Dollar Business Bureau

The ambitious ‘Make-in India’ initiative by the Government has led to a record inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) of $60 billion in the financial year 2016-17, the Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday.

“The Make in India initiative was launched on September 25, 2014 with the objective of facilitating investment, fostering innovation, building best in class manufacturing infrastructure, making it easy to do business and enhancing skill development,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The Government is also increasing the focus to new emerging sectors under the Make in India initiative. These include biotechnology, aerospace and defence, new and renewable energy and information communication and telecom equipment manufacturing, it said.

There were 21 key sectors identified for specific actions in the areas of fiscal incentives, ease of doing business policy initiatives, infrastructure creation, skill development and innovation and R&D.

The Government has also shifted its focus on the export strategy. The recently revised Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), under the mid-term review on December 5, focuses on the goal of exploring new markets as well as new products.

The major emphasis of the revised FTP was on enhancing India’s share in traditional markets and products, leveraging the benefits of goods and services tax (GST) by exporters, to closely monitor export performances and also to take immediate corrective measures based on state-of-the-art data analysis, the statement said.

In addition, the FTP focuses on increasing ease of trading across borders; increasing the realisations from agriculture-based exports and promoting exports from MSMEs and labour intensive sectors to increase employment opportunities for youth, it added.

“Through FTP, the Government envisages employment creation in both manufacturing and services; production of zero defect products with a focus on quality and standards along with a focus on higher value addition and technology infusion,” the statement said.