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- The Cabinet approved the revised proposal of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry to put in place a National Manufacturing Policy.
- The major objectives of the National Manufacturing Policy are to increase the sectoral share of manufacturing in GOP to at least 25% by 2022; to increase the rate of job creation so as to create 100 million additional jobs by 2022; and to enhance global competitiveness, domestic value addition, technological depth and environmental sustainability of growth.
- The policy envisages specific interventions broadly in the areas of industrial infrastructure development; improvement of the business environment through rationalization and simplification of business regulations; development of appropriate technologies especially green technologies for sustainable development and skill development of the younger population.
- Industrial infrastructure development is envisaged not only generally but also through the creation of large integrated industrial townships called National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) with state-of-the-art infrastructure; land use on the basis of zoning; clean and energy efficient technologies; necessary social and institutional infrastructure in order to provide a productive environment to persons transitioning from the primary to the secondary and tertiary sectors.
- The land for these zones will preferably be waste infertile land not suitable for cultivation; not in the vicinity of any ecologically fragile area and with reasonable access to basic resources.
- No subsidies are proposed for individual units or areas. The basic thrust is to provide an enabling environment for tapping the potential of the private sector and the entrepreneurial skills of the younger population.
- The contribution of the manufacturing sector at just over 16% of India's GOP is much below its potential and a cause of concern especially in the context of other Asian countries in similar stages of development.
- India is a young country with over 60% of its population in the working age group, thus manufacturing sector will have to create gainful employment for at least half this number.
