India needs more than tax cuts to become a global manufacturing hub

India needs to remove trade barriers and improve infrastructure if it wants to benefit from movement of supply chains from China, a former European trade commissioner said.

“India is still driving along with its hand brake on,” Peter Mandelson, Chairman of strategic advisory firm Global Counsel, said in an interview in New Delhi on Thursday. “If it doesn’t do enough, other countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam will take advantage of this switch, leaving India behind.”

A shortage of skilled workers, bureaucracy and lack of adequate road and port infrastructure are key impediments investors face in India, he added. The south