Labour-intensive manufacturing segments facing external headwinds

Experts say manufacturing is declining due to a slump in overseas demand and production-linked incentive schemes will take time to yield results

A commerce ministry official recently attributed the fall in imports in January to the Make in India programme. Imports declined 3.63 per cent in January and 3.46 per cent in December. However, the performance of different manufacturing segments does not give confidence that 'Make in India' has taken off to a great height

In fact, malady in manufacturing is much more serious than displayed by the headline number in the index of industrial production (IIP). The headline number showed that manufacturing grew by just 2.6 per cent in December compared to 6.4 per cent in November. Of nine months so