FOSTERING INNOVATION AND HARNESSING TECHNOLOGY UNDER “MAKE IN INDIA”
Make in India campaign is one of the biggest and the most promising national program launched by Modi Government. The ‘Make in India’ scheme was launched with an aim to make India a “global manufacturing hub”, by increasing the share of manufacturing in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and creating employment to attract Indian and foreign capital as well as to boost technological investment across different sectors. The scheme not only encourages to locally manufacture the products which are currently imported, but also leads to a deep sense of positivity engulfing both the manufacturing industry and the whole financial fabric of the country.
India’s ability as a nation to foster research, innovation and technology is the core of Make in India initiative. Recognising the inherent advantages of specific regions, including its natural, cultural and economic diversity; the scheme pushes to foster innovation, harness technological advancements and attract investments from across the globe in order to give a much-needed boost to the Indian manufacturing industry.
The focus being on 25 sectors, Make in India scheme intends at utilising the existing Indian talent base, creating additional employment opportunities, empowering secondary & tertiary sector by specific focus on opportunities, policies and Ease of Doing Business.
The 25 sectors included in the scheme are automobiles, automobile components, aviation, biotechnology, chemicals, construction, defence manufacturing, electrical machinery, electronic systems, food processing, IT & BPM, leather, media and entertainment, mining, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, ports and shipping, railways, renewable energy, roads and highways, space, textile and garments, thermal power, tourism and hospitality and wellness.
The Make in India program is very important for the economic growth of India as it aims to:
- Foster innovation & harness technological advancements
- Facilitate investment
- Enhance skill development
- Protect intellectual property
- Build best in class manufacturing infrastructure
Brain-drain and its effect on Make in India
India suffers from consistent brain-drain even after the country being one of the oldest civilisations in the world, complete with a rich history and culture as well as a strong scientific and technological tradition. It is no surprise that many momentous innovations have come out of this country, but now is the time to ponder on the reasons for country’s brain-drain and its effect on the Make in India scheme.
- Quality of education – The bright young minds of India look for a foreign university to hone their knowledge and gain quality education which promotes them to use their education to innovate and create. India still struggling with reservations and limited finance for scholarships has resulted in the brain-drain, in turn hampering the innovative journey of the country.
- Lack of opportunity – Companies in India have failed to create a platform of opportunities to the young minds to use of their skills to the optimum level and to grow and develop technical skills on the job. The educational institutions as well as the companies lacked resources when the young minds were raring to innovate. This led to substantial brain-drain diverting the talents to move to foreign lands.
- Remuneration – Remuneration is one of the biggest attraction to the young crowd and we see a big chunk of bright minds opting jobs in MNCs based outside the country as Indian companies cannot match up to MNCs when it comes to remuneration. Thus the country is slowly losing its hold on the innovative young minds.
- Standard of living – It is a true fact that some of the largest companies in the world is founded and run by India-born prodigies but unfortunately their companies are not established in India. The reason behind this is that the youth of our country seek a better standard of living than the previous generation which is not found in an economically developing country like ours. This again led to a major brain-drain to foreign shores, affecting innovation in India.
Final thoughts
Undeniably, the quality of manufacturing and the strength of service sectors is what makes a nation a true economic powerhouse. In this sense, the success of ‘Make in India’ initiative is imperative and important. It is the need of the hour to rightly develop the Indian economy to retain the young talents, increase the sense on national pride in them and also incline them towards doing right by the nation. By providing open opportunities and right resources, it can be made sure that our talents stay in India, innovate in India and contribute towards making the ‘Make in India’ initiative a huge success.
