Make in India has failed to create enough jobs, says L&T chairman

The Modi government’s much-publicised ‘Make in India’ programme has failed to create enough jobs in the absence for any incentive or ready capital available to the local companies for manufacturing goods in the country, Larsen and Toubro Ltd chairman A.M. Naik has said.

“We have to find answers as to why most Indian companies are keen to import rather than manufacture here… We allow imports because it often comes with credit facility. The other reason for high imports is because Indian companies do not have enough financing options available,” Naik said in an interview with Mint.

More than 10 million youth enter the job market in India but the latest figures show that the country is not creating enough jobs for them and the disparity is particularly wide in the manufacturing sector vis-a-vis the supply of skilled labour.

Naik said that for creating enough jobs, India’s economy has to grow “at least 12-13 per cent” per year. However, the country’s economic growth slumped to 5.8% in the last quarter ended March 31.

“We are not able to create jobs at the pace needed to bridge this gap.”

He said the ongoing trade war between the US and China is an opportunity for India, and that countries like Vietnam and Thailand have tapped this opportunity for manufacturing, but India has failed to take advantage of it so far.

“What did India do? If I was implementing this, I would have created a separate ministry on how to bring foreign investment and export-oriented business to India,” he was quoted as saying.