Sectoral meet Monday to devise 'Make in India' action plan

The 25 sectors identified for advancing the government's Make in India programme will make presentations at a high-profile workshop here Monday.

The day-long workshop titled "Sectoral Perspectives and Initiatives" will feature ministers, industries and state chief secretaries, while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will make the inaugural address, an official source told IANS.

The sector-specific sessions at the workshop will prepare action plans for one and three years and the secretary concerned will then present the plan to the prime minister and will commit to implementing it, the official added.

The Make in India campaign was launched by Modi Sep 25, promising the investors, domestic and overseas, an environment conducive to turn the country into a manufacturing hub and, in turn, create job opportunities for at least 100 million youths.

A total of 18 sessions will be held on the 25 sectors, including chemicals, oil and gas, petrochemicals, capital goods, pharmaceutical, food processing, tourism, aviation, automobile, aerospace, defence production and skill development.

A separate session will be held with chief secretaries and principal industry secretaries of states on improving ease of doing business.

Sector specific issues like land acquisition, taxation, inverted duty structure, recommendations for the next budget and inter-ministerial differences would be discussed, the source said.

Representatives of Ford India, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, state-run enterprises, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry would take part in the workshop.

Industrial activity, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), registered a negative 4.2 percent growth during October as compared to a 1.2 percent decline in growth during the corresponding month of the previous year.

Industry's pitch for rate cuts and economic reforms has become sharper with factory output slipping further, even as retail inflation eased to a historic low of 4.38 percent in November, official data showed earlier this month.