India now the 6th largest manufacturer
According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) yearbook, India now ranks 6th among the top 10 manufacturing nations of the world. India has jumped from 9th position to 6th position in the list topped by China followed by the US, Japan, and Korea. The manufacturing value added in India grew by 7.6% in 2015 even as the global growth slowed to 2.8%.
Indirect tax collection surpasses Rs. 7.04 lakh crore
According to Najib Shah, Chairman Central Board of Excise and Customs, the total indirect tax collection has surpassed even the revised estimate of Rs.7.04 lakh crores for the FY2015-16. The finance minister during budget 2015-16 had kept a target of Rs.6.48 lakh crore for indirect taxes in FY2015-16. The target was revised upward to Rs.7.04 lakh crore in Feb'16 owing to better tax collections.
What is UNIDO?
Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation or UNIDO is a specialised agency of United Nations aimed at promoting industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalisation and environmental sustainability.
India: manufacturing profile
Manufacturing in India accounts for 16% of the GDP. The 'Make in India' mission launched by the government aims to increase this share to 25% by 2025. However, manufacturing needs to grow at a pace higher than GDP growth rate. According to experts, the manufacturing sector in India continues to remain positive and could touch $1 trillion by 2025, creating 90 million additional jobs.
Investment in electronics sector reaches Rs.1.2 lakh crore
According to the telecom minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, the total investment in electronics sector in India has risen to Rs.1,20,000 crores as against Rs.11,500 crores till 2014. The government is promoting electronics manufacturing, and aims to make India a net exporter of electronic goods by 2020. In 2016, India would produce over 11 crore mobile phones, 83% more than the previous year.
Core sector surges to a 15 month high
The core sector growth rate for February has jumped to 5.7%, reversing the 3-month decline in industrial production. The 8 industry core sectors, comprising of coal, cement, steel, electricity, natural gas, fertiliser, refinery products and crude oil, posted almost double the growth rate in February 2016, against 2.9% in January 2016 It had grown by 2.3% in February 2015, the corresponding period last year.
Manufacturing still faces huge challenges
Although the manufacturing sector has received the government's focus, a large number of challenges continue to exist. India ranked at a low 130 out of 189 countries in the 2016 Ease of Doing Business report released by the World Bank. Lack of infrastructure, complex labour laws, sluggish demand due to slow economic recovery, complex taxation rules, etc. continue to affect India's manufacturing sector.
