India received $222 billion in investment pledges at the “Make in India Week” in Mumbai last month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s signature initiative, to transform his country into a “global manufacturing hub,” is catching fire.
Modi announced his “Make in India” plan in September 2014, shortly after coming to power in a landmark election, and selling the initiative around the world has been the easy part for the reform-minded, charismatic leader.
Foreign direct investment into his country is on the verge of overtaking that of both the United States and China. That’s not too surprising because Modi’s got a great story to tell. India, after all, is by far the most promising of the BRICS.
The countries represented by the first two letters, Brazil and Russia, have contracting economies and face intractable problems across-the board. The “C,” China, is heading into a debt crisis as growth stalls and money flees. South Africa, the “S,” is limping.
The “I,” however, is roaring ahead. India has the highest growth rate of all the BRICS—the IMF predicts 7.3% GDP growth this fiscal year and 7.5% next year—a relatively stable and open political system, and a near-perfect demographic profile.
If you can remember only one projection about the world, make it this one: the U.N. tells us that India will become the planet’s most populous country in 2022. Some believe that will happen even sooner, perhaps 2020. Whenever that occurs, it will be the first time in 300 years—and perhaps all recorded history—that China will not hold the world’s population crown.
By mid-century, India’s workforce—people aged 15-59—will number 1.05 billion. Indian leaders, therefore, need to figure out how to keep them all employed. Modi’s solution is Make in India.
It is not as if Modi’s plan is novel. In East Asia, it has been tried, with great success, in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and China. Malaysia prospered with its factories, and Vietnam and Bangladesh are now taking that route.
The question the Indian prime minister faces, therefore, is whether he is too late to the manufacturing game.
The post India Wants To Make Everything You Buy :- Forbes appeared first on Defence Update.
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