Ficci-PwC survey says industry finds Make in India productive

A FICCI-PwC survey has given the thumbs-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government's Make in India initiative.

About 85 per cent of the key corporate executives who responded to the survey, released in Delhi on February 9, supported the view that the initiative is not just a marketing campaign to attract investments, but an effort to encourage production in India, either by Indian companies or by MNCs.

The survey "FICCI - PwC Strategy& Survey: India Manufacturing Barometer - Winds of Change" found 58 per cent of the CXO respondents to be 'somewhat optimistic' about the short-term prospects of the Indian economy.

The survey's perception on the prospects of India's manufacturing sector was not too bad as 36 per cent of respondents hoped the industry margins would increase in the next one year. The worrisome factor was that the percentage of respondents that hoped for better days during a similar survey was 47 per cent in 2014, and 54 per cent in 2013.

Commenting on the survey, Harshavardhan Neotia, President, FICCI, said that the key initiatives taken by the government in the past few months to attract investments are yielding results. "We are hopeful of a more stable and stronger growth of manufacturing in coming months. However, to revive domestic investment, the government needs to announce more reforms and measures in the forthcoming Budget to make the overall investment scenario more optimistic," he said.

The survey covered 98 companies in eight sectors including automobiles, cables, capital goods, cement, chemicals and downstream metals.
The observations, coming at a time when industrial production growth figures are not at all encouraging, should prove to be a morale booster for the government. The Prime Minister is to inaugurate the government's flagship investment promotion initiative, 'Make In India Week' in Mumbai on February 13. The week's agenda is a combination of high-profile visits, seminars, exhibitions, awards and business meetings. It will host government delegations from 49 nations and business delegations from 68 countries.