The government on Friday released Make in India achievement reports on three relatively more vibrant sectors — textiles, telecom, and automobiles — that make a sizable contribution to the Indian merchandise exports.
As per IANS, the textile sector accounts for 10 per cent of the country’s manufacturing production, 5 per cent of India’s GDP, 13 per cent of exports earnings and is the second largest job provider in the country, employing nearly 51 million people directly and 68 million indirectly in 2015-16.
While 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) is allowed under the automatic route, FDI inflows into the sector between 2014-16 added up to $427.55 million.
On the automobiles sector, the report said the industry has been on a growth trajectory, with impressive rise in sales, production and exports over the last two years.
The $93-billion automotive industry contributed 7.1 per cent to India’s GDP and almost 49 per cent to the nation’s manufacturing GDP during the last fiscal.
Among the government’s initiatives, it mentioned the Automobile Mission Plan 2016-2026, which envisages making India into one of the top three automobile manufacturing centres in the world with a gross revenue of $300 billion by 2026.
The telecom industry in India is booming, with the second-largest subscriber base in the world at 1.06 billon connections.
India, with 275 million smart phone subscribers, recently outpaced the US to become the second largest smart-phone subscriber base in the world.With 100 per cent FDI allowed in the telecom sector, 49 per cent of which is permitted through the automatic route, total FDI in the sector during 2014-16 was around $4.19 billion.
On incentives, the ministry said basic customs duty and special additional duty have been withdrawn and importers of mobile handset component need to pay only the countervailing duty of 12.5 per cent.
A duty advantage of 10.5 per cent exists for local manufacturers of mobile speakers and batteries, the report added.
