Manufacturing sector to be growth engine of economy, says Maira

Planning Commissioner member Arun Maira expects manufacturing sector to grow 2-3% faster than the GDP through a mix of policy actions and collaborative efforts by the industry. He was speaking to media at the sidelines of CII manufacturing summit in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Maira was involved in the drafting of new manufacturing policy which lays down an action plan including creation of hundred million additional jobs, boosting competitiveness and increase the sharing of manufacturing to 25% of GDP by 2025. Currently, the share of manufacturing in India's GDP is lower than that of many countries including China and the sector employes about 12% of population.

"Manufacturing should grow 2-3% faster than the economy. We believe manufacturing will be the engine of growth. It has not been so for the last 15-20 years. It has grown lesser than the economy on an average but now manufacturing should be the engine pulling the whole economy forward. If stakeholders and policy makers align in advance, we foresee that the growth will reach 9-10% by the end of the 12th plan," he said.