India as a Manufacturing Base.....Sign of Better Times To Come?

India has always been the proverbial also ran when it came to manufacturing. But the announcement by Nokia a few weeks back, that it was setting up a handset and base station manufacturing unit was good news. This has now been followed up by Intel announcing that it will choose India over China for its Advanced Manufacturing Unit. These are just a drop in the ocean but it is definitely something to look forward to. Only manufacturing has the capability to generate the number of jobs that are needed to sustain our ever growing numbers of unemployed youth and drive our economic growth forward. None of the factors which hinder the manufacturing sector have gone away, but there is a realisation by firms that it is not wise to hinge all your bets on China. In addition, India has been making the right noises when it comes to unshackling our potential in manufacturing, especially in power reforms and infrastructure(ports, roads and airlinks). Lets us hope that Manmohan Singh and his team have the political will to carry through the 2nd phase of reforms.

Machee