Govt modifying '2011 vintage' national manufacturing policy

New Delhi: The "2011 vintage" manufacturing policy is being modified to align it with initiatives like 'Make in India' as also Industrial Revolution 4.0, which refers to high end automation, Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

The national manufacturing policy (NMP) "is of 2011 vintage", which envisaged that manufacturing should contribute 25 percent in India's GDP by 2022, she said.

Currently, the sector contributes about 16-17 percent to India's economic growth.

The NMP, formulated in 2011, provides certain tax and other benefits to boost the sector's growth besides creating 100 million additional jobs.

"Yes, we have initiated the process (to revamp the policy). I have instructed the secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to get into the details of that," the Commerce and Industry Minister told PTI in an interview.

She said it is necessary to modify the policy as in the last three years, the government has taken a host of initiatives like 'Make in India', 'Digital India' and 'Skill India' and significantly relaxed foreign investment policy.

The revamped policy, she said, is also necessary as the government has to protect the interest of all segments of industry whether it is highly or partly automated and SMEs which are yet to adopt modern technologies.

"Into this debate, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 is rapidly catching up. You like it or not, some industries are bringing in robotics in a very big way; some partly using that and some others absolutely have no impact of this because they can not afford or they do not want it. But we have to have a place for all the three," Sitharaman said.

Industrial revolution 4.0 encompasses use of robotics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, data analytics and automation.

Initiatives like 'Make in India', 'Digital India' and 'Skill India' are aimed at making India a manufacturing hub and they ought to find a place in the national manufacturing policy.

"There should be some coherence. So I have asked them (DIPP) that in the context of three years of Make in India, get all these (initiatives) coming into this narrative," she said, adding that the policy should be relevant.