> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://signals.joincomrades.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # 15 Sep 2026 · Editorial > Comrades Editorial of 15 Sep 2026, by news group. > **[Comrades Editorial · 15 Sep 2026 (PDF)](https://dl.joincomrades.com/e/15-09-26)** *** ## In this edition 1. [Powering India’s Manufacturing Sector](#h-1) Economic Scenario ## Economic Scenario ### Powering India’s Manufacturing Sector [Source](https://www.drishtiias.com/current-affairs-news-analysis-editorials/news-editorials/15-09-2026) This editorial is based on “The manufacturing fabric” published in the Financial Express on 14/09/2026. The article highlights that India must combine technology-led manufacturing with employment-intensive industries, strengthening textile value chains through scale, skills, technology and trade facilitation. Such integration can improve productivity, expand exports and translate demographic strength into development. India’s Prime Minister placed “manufacturing power” among the seven pillars or Saptadhara for achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047. India needs a balanced manufacturing strategy i.e., advanced sectors such as semiconductors and AI for productivity and strategic autonomy, alongside labour-intensive textiles and apparel for jobs, women’s participation, MSME growth and exports. Achieving the USD 100-billion textile-export target requires competitive production ecosystems. What are the Key Developments Shaping India’s Manufacturing Sector? * **Manufacturing Recovery and Expansion of Industrial GVA:** * India’s manufacturing sector has moved from post-pandemic recovery towards a broader capital-expenditure and domestic-demand-led expansion. * The Economic Survey 2025–26 reported real manufacturing GVA growth of 7.72% in Q1 and 9.13% in Q2 of FY2025–26, indicating strengthening factory activity. * Growth has been supported by public infrastructure investment, improving capacity utilisation and demand for capital goods, construction materials, automobiles and consumer durables. * **Shift from Input Subsidies to Production-Linked Industrial Policy:** * The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) architecture has tied government support to incremental production, investment and sales rather than merely subsidising industrial inputs. * As of September 2025, PLI schemes across 14 strategic sectors had attracted more than ₹2 lakh crore of actual investment, generated over ₹18.7 lakh crore in incremental production/sales and created approximately 12.6 lakh jobs. * Beneficiary sectors include electronics, automobiles, advanced-chemistry cells, telecom equipment, solar modules, speciality steel, drones and white goods. * The National Manufacturing Mission further integrates ease of doing business, future-ready skills, MSME integration, technology adoption and clean-tech manufacturing into a unified industrial strategy. * **Electronics Manufacturing and Movement Beyond Assembly:** * India has emerged as a major electronics manufacturing services and mobile-phone production hub, with policy now shifting towards greater domestic value addition. * Electronics production increased from approximately ₹1.9 lakh crore in FY2014–15 to ₹11.3 lakh crore in FY2024–25, while exports rose from ₹38,000 crore to ₹3.27 lakh crore. * Nearly 99% of mobile phones sold domestically are now manufactured in India; Apple’s expanding supplier network, Foxconn, Tata Electronics and Pegatron, illustrates India’s integration into global production networks. * The Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme targets multilayer PCBs, camera modules, display assemblies, enclosures and lithium-ion cells, signalling a transition from “assembly in India” to component ecosystem development. * **Automobile Industry’s Transition towards Advanced and Electric Mobility:** * India’s large automobile base is diversifying from conventional vehicle assembly towards EVs, battery systems, connected vehicles and hydrogen mobility. * The Automobile and Auto-Component PLI Scheme incentivises zero-emission vehicles and Advanced Automotive Technology products, encouraging firms to undertake higher-value manufacturing. * Indian examples include Tata Motors’ electric passenger vehicles, Mahindra’s born-electric platform, Ola Electric’s Tamil Nadu facility and Ather Energy’s electric two-wheelers. * The Advanced Chemistry Cell PLI seeks to create 50 GWh of domestic battery capacity, thereby localising one of the most valuable components in an EV. * This represents technological upgrading of India’s established automotive clusters in Pune, Chennai, Gurugram-Manesar, Sanand and Hosur. * **Defence Manufacturing and Strategic Indigenisation:** * Defence production is evolving from dependence on licensed assembly and imports towards indigenous design, private participation and export-oriented manufacturing. * India recorded defence production of approximately ₹1.51 lakh crore in FY2024–25, nearly 90% higher than FY2019–20; defence exports reached a record ₹23,622 crore, compared with only ₹686 crore in FY2013–14. * HAL’s Tejas aircraft and Light Combat Helicopter Prachand, BrahMos missiles, INS Vikrant, Pinaka rocket systems and Tata-Airbus C-295 aircraft demonstrate widening indigenous production capabilities. * Positive Indigenisation Lists, defence industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, and iDEX-supported start-ups are linking DPSUs with private firms, innovators and MSMEs. * **Rapid Growth of Clean-Technology Manufacturing:** * India is building manufacturing capacity in solar photovoltaics, batteries, green hydrogen equipment and energy-efficient appliances, connecting industrial policy with its net-zero transition. * Solar PV module capacity registered under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) increased from about 2.3 GW in 2014 to more than 100 GW in 2025. * Companies such as Reliance New Energy, Adani Solar, Waaree Energies, Vikram Solar and ReNew are establishing integrated module and cell facilities. * The SIGHT programme under the National Green Hydrogen Mission supports domestic manufacturing of electrolysers, while the solar PLI seeks vertical integration from modules towards cells, wafers and polysilicon. * **Emergence of Plug-and-Play Industrial Clusters and Logistics Integration:** * Manufacturing is increasingly being organised around industrial corridors, multimodal logistics and cluster-based infrastructure, reducing factory-to-port costs. * In 2024, the Union Cabinet approved 12 industrial smart-city projects across 10 states under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme, involving an estimated investment of ₹28,602 crore. * Examples such as Dholera, Shendra-Bidkin, Greater Noida, Krishnapatnam and Tumakuru combine industrial land with power, water, digital connectivity and transport infrastructure. * Integration with PM Gati Shakti, Dedicated Freight Corridors, Bharatmala and port modernisation is creating node-based manufacturing ecosystems rather than isolated factories. * **Formalisation, Digitalisation and Technological Upgrading of MSMEs:** * The manufacturing ecosystem is gradually becoming more formal and digitally connected through Udyam registration, GST, e-invoicing, TReDS and digital procurement. * More than 6.8 crore enterprises had registered through Udyam and the Udyam Assist Platform by December 2025, expanding access to formal credit, government procurement and industrial incentives. * SAMARTH Udyog Bharat 4.0 centres, common facility centres and the MSME Sustainable–ZED Certification are encouraging adoption of robotics, IoT-based monitoring, digital twins, energy efficiency and zero-defect production. * Auto-component clusters in Pune and Chennai, engineering units in Rajkot and Coimbatore, and textile enterprises in Surat and Tiruppur illustrate how MSMEs are becoming specialised suppliers within larger domestic and global value chains. * **Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Biopharma Expansion:** * India, the world’s 3rd-largest pharmaceutical producer by volume, recorded pharmaceutical exports of USD 30 billion in FY2024–25, led by generics, vaccines and formulations. * The pharma and bulk-drug PLI schemes are expanding domestic production of critical APIs and high-value medicines. Indigenous antibiotics such as Nafithromycin and Zaynich demonstrate growing innovation capability. * The Biopharma SHAKTI mission promotes biologics and biosimilars through upgraded NIPERs, over 1,000 accredited clinical-trial sites and stronger regulatory capacity, shifting India from volume-based generics to innovation-led biomanufacturing. What are the Key Concerns Associated with India's Manufacturing Sector? * **Incomplete Structural Transformation and Limited Employment Absorption:** * Manufacturing has not displaced agriculture as the principal source of employment, producing a pattern of premature deindustrialisation. * According to the PLFS 2025 figures, India had approximately 616 million employed persons aged 15 years and above, but manufacturing accounted for only 12.1%, compared with around 43% in agriculture. * Capital-intensive industries such as petroleum refining, metals and automobiles have expanded faster than employment-intensive sectors such as garments, footwear, furniture and food processing. * Consequently, manufacturing growth has not sufficiently addressed disguised unemployment, low-productivity agriculture and educated youth unemployment. * **Shallow Domestic Value Addition and Import-Intensive Production:** * India relies heavily on foreign sources for industrial machinery, electronic components, lithium-ion cells, rare-earth magnets, coking coal and specialised chemicals. * In 2025, automobile manufacturers faced production risks after China restricted exports of certain rare-earth magnets, exposing the vulnerability of India’s EV, electronics and precision-engineering supply chains. * Such assembly-led manufacturing increases output and exports but creates limited indigenous intellectual property, component capability and technological spillovers. * The Economic Survey 2025–26 emphasised expanding high-end manufacturing and moving up global value chains through stronger domestic capabilities in advanced components, technology and R\&D. * It also called for “strategic indispensability” as a policy goal for India, moving beyond self-reliance towards becoming an irreplaceable node in global supply chains. * **“Missing Middle” and the MSME Financial Stress:** * India’s industrial base contains numerous micro enterprises and a small number of large corporations, but relatively few competitive medium-sized manufacturers. * The Economic Survey 2025–26 estimated that nearly ₹8.1 lakh crore was locked in delayed MSME payments, severely constraining working capital and investment. * Fear of losing orders often discourages small suppliers from filing cases against large buyers, weakening the effectiveness of the 45-day payment mandate under the MSMED Act. * Limited collateral, delayed GST refunds and expensive technology upgrades keep units in a low-investment–low-productivity trap, preventing them from scaling into global suppliers. * **Low Research Intensity and Dependence on Foreign Technology:** * India’s manufacturing system remains stronger in process adaptation and frugal engineering than in developing frontier industrial technologies. * India’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) remains around 0.6–0.7% of GDP, below the global average and considerably lower than innovation-intensive economies. * Dependence on foreign machine tools, industrial robots, high-end sensors, aircraft engines and advanced materials restricts indigenous product development and leads to persistent royalty and licensing payments. * **Low Productivity and Uneven Industry 4.0 Adoption:** * Technological modernisation remains concentrated in large automobile, electronics and engineering companies, producing a digital divide between organised factories and MSME clusters. * India’s estimated robot density is only around 5–7 robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers, compared with the global average of 162 in 2023; China recorded 470 robots per 10,000 workers. * While companies such as Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors employ robotics and computer-integrated manufacturing, power-loom units in Bhiwandi, foundries in Howrah and ceramic units in Morbi often lack access to CNC machinery, industrial IoT, digital twins and predictive maintenance. * This creates a dualistic manufacturing structure characterised by inconsistent quality, high material wastage and low total factor productivity. * **Skill Mismatch and Deficient Employment Quality:** * India’s demographic advantage is constrained by insufficient industry-specific training and weak alignment between ITIs, polytechnics and factory requirements. * The Economic Survey 2025–26 notes that only 4.9% of youth aged 15–29 years had received formal vocational or technical training; it estimates that wider formal skilling could raise employment by about 13%. * The Economic Survey 2023-24 estimated that India must create nearly 78.5 lakh non-farm jobs annually, intensifying the pressure on employment-intensive manufacturing. * Shortages of tool-and-die makers, welders, mechatronics technicians and quality-control specialists, alongside contractual employment and low female participation, weaken productivity and shop-floor learning. * **High Factor Costs and Uneven Business Competitiveness:** * The combined cost of electricity, freight, credit, land and regulatory compliance reduces India’s factory-gate competitiveness. * High rail freight encourages road transport even for bulk commodities, while multiple State-level approvals relating to land conversion, fire safety, boilers and pollution control increase the compliance cost, especially for multi-state manufacturers. * Consequently, firms in inland clusters such as Ludhiana, Indore and Coimbatore face higher factory-to-port costs than industries situated near western and southern ports. * **Carbon-Intensive Production and Green Trade Barriers:** * Expansion in steel, cement, aluminium and chemicals risks creating carbon lock-in when export markets are introducing embedded-emission standards. * Indian steel plants emit around 2.65 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of finished steel, approximately 32% above the global average of 2 tonnes; steelmaking contributes nearly 10–12% of India’s total emissions. * Pollution-intensive clusters, including Kanpur’s tanneries, Tiruppur’s dyeing units and Singrauli’s industrial belt, also face wastewater, air-pollution and resource-security pressures, making decarbonisation, circular manufacturing and climate resilience essential rather than optional. What Measures Should India Adopt to Strengthen its Manufacturing Sector? * **Adopt an Employment-and-Value-Addition Incentive Framework:** * Industrial incentives should reward firms for creating additional formal jobs, raising domestic value addition and increasing worker productivity, rather than merely expanding sales. * Provide higher incentives for employment-intensive sectors—textiles, footwear, toys, furniture, food processing and light engineering—which can absorb workers leaving agriculture. * Introduce a Domestic Value-Addition Score based on indigenous components, local R\&D, formal employment and MSME procurement; link tax benefits and government contracts to this score. * **Develop “Missing-Middle” Manufacturing Enterprises:** * Create a Scale-Up Manufacturing Fund offering patient equity, revenue-based finance and credit guarantees to firms crossing productivity, export and quality-certification thresholds. * Introduce an automatic invoice-escrow system for large corporate and government purchases: the buyer should deposit payment when goods are accepted, preventing working-capital blockages. * Establish Supplier Development Compacts under which large manufacturers mentor selected MSMEs in tooling, quality control and export compliance. * **Build Deep Domestic Supply Chains through “Component-Level Industrial Policy”:** * India should replace broad import substitution with targeted support for high-value components and industrial inputs. * Prepare product-wise Bill-of-Materials maps identifying imported components, their technological complexity, potential domestic suppliers and demand projections. * Create Critical Input Reserves and Recycling Corridors for lithium, cobalt, rare-earth elements and specialised alloys to cushion geopolitical supply disruptions. * **Create a National Manufacturing Technology Extension Network:** * Establish district-level Manufacturing Extension Centres, modelled on agricultural extension, where engineers diagnose production bottlenecks and help MSMEs adopt industrial IoT, robotics, additive manufacturing, digital twins and predictive maintenance. * Provide Digital Modernisation Vouchers that small firms can redeem with accredited technology providers instead of requiring them to make large upfront investments. * Develop shared Robotics-as-a-Service and Tool-Room Facilities in clusters such as Morbi, Rajkot, Ludhiana, Coimbatore and Bhiwandi. * **Shift from Research Grants to Mission-Oriented Industrial Innovation:** * Create sector-specific Grand Challenges for aircraft engines, industrial robots, advanced materials, green chemicals and precision machine tools, with milestone-based funding. * The government should act as a first buyer through pre-commercial procurement, allowing Indian firms to test products before competing globally. * Establish shared pilot-production lines and regulatory sandboxes connecting CSIR laboratories, IITs, manufacturers and venture-capital funds. * Introduce a patent-box regime offering lower tax rates on income generated from intellectual property developed and manufactured in India. * **Establish an Industry-Led Dual Apprenticeship System:** * Industry clusters should jointly operate Dual Training Academies, with trainees dividing their time between ITIs and factory shop floors. * Create portable Manufacturing Skill Passports containing verified competency records in welding, CNC operation, mechatronics, quality testing and machine maintenance. * Tie public support to apprenticeship completion, wage progression and job retention—not simply enrolment numbers. * Worker hostels, safe transport, night-shift security and industrial childcare centres should be treated as productive infrastructure to improve women’s participation. * **Make India a Green and Circular Manufacturing Hub:** * Establish an Indian Product Carbon Passport recording embedded emissions, recycled content, water intensity and supply-chain origin; this would help exporters comply with the EU’s CBAM and eco-design regulations. * Use green public procurement to guarantee initial demand for low-carbon steel, cement, recycled aluminium and energy-efficient machinery. * Develop industrial circularity parks where one factory’s waste heat, scrap, fly ash, wastewater or chemical by-product becomes another factory’s input—an approach based on industrial symbiosis. * Offer contracts-for-difference to bridge the initial cost gap between conventional and green steel, hydrogen-based processes and carbon capture. **Conclusion** * Achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047 requires balancing high-tech capabilities with labour-intensive sectors like textiles to drive mass employment and inclusive growth. India must move beyond low wages and adopt proven institutional strengths i.e., deep specialization, shared industrial infrastructure, skilled labor pools, and rigorous environmental compliance. Ultimately, manufacturing success should be measured not by export value or factory counts, but by transforming workers from precarious livelihoods into formal, socially protected economic citizens. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.