Pointing to inputs from the steel sector which had indicated that its competitive edge at the factory gate was often lost due to cost escalation during transportation, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Amardeep Singh Bhatia said 26 states have already formulated their logistics policy and others are being requested to follow suit to reduce costs.
While he agreed that capacity building and upskilling of the workforce is a time-consuming process, he added that plug-and-play infrastructure for manufacturing is being considered for expansion to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to cut logistics costs.
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While there are no plans, for now, to extend Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes beyond the 14 existing sectors, Bhatia noted that prior government approval will continue to be required for direct or indirect investment from countries India shares a land border with, including China.
On plans to extend investment attraction beyond mobiles in the electronics sector, he explained that the focus has been to get investments and the technology upgradation which comes along.
He cited earlier instances where an entire ecosystem and supply chains followed investments, stating that the move had boosted local skills and employment.
While critical technologies will continue to be on the government’s radar, steps are underway to bring the larger value chain to India, like the semiconductor mission.
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The DPIIT is also in talks with other government departments to effect nearly 100 amendments as part of Jan Vishwas 2, which intends to do away with penalties for several existing offences to promote ease of doing business.
With a higher labour availability than Vietnam and Bangladesh, India is looking to encourage labour-intensive sectors to increase the use of available skill sets.
While the Secretary pointed out examples of Vistron and Foxconn bringing in their labour-intensive assembly units, he said the DPIIT has already given its inputs to the Ministry of Heavy Industries on the proposed electric vehicle policy, though he termed it premature to comment on the changes that have been proposed.
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