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Make in India reports on textiles, telecom, auto sectors out

The textile sector accounts for 10 per cent of the country’s manufacturing production, 5 per cent of India’s GDP, 13 per cent of exports earnings and is the second largest job provider in the country.

Make in India reports on textiles, telecom, auto sectors out

Make In India (Photo: Facebook)

The government on Friday released Make in India
achievement reports on three relatively more vibrant sectors — textiles,
telecom and automobiles — that make a sizable contribution to the Indian
merchandise exports.

The textile sector accounts for 10 per cent of the country’s
manufacturing production, 5 per cent of India’s GDP, 13 per cent of exports
earnings and is the second largest job provider in the country, employing
nearly 51 million people directly and 68 million indirectly in 2015-16, the Commerce
Ministry report said. 

“To provide encouragement to textile manufactures and
farmers of raw materials, the government has been providing incentives like
minimum support price to cotton farmers, upgrading the technology for handloom
weavers and providing centres for trade facilitation,” it said.

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While 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) is
allowed under the automatic route, FDI inflows into the sector between 2014-16
added up to $427.55 million.

Textiles and apparel exports are estimated to reach $62
billion by 2021, from the $38 billion in 2016, the Ministry said. 

A number of tax reforms and benefits have been introduced to
promote the sector, like the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS),
Interest Equalisation Scheme and reduction in Basic Customs Duty, it added. 

On the automobiles sector, the report said the industry has
been on a growth trajectory, with impressive rise in sales, production and exports
over the last two years.

The $93-billion automotive industry contributed 7.1 per cent
to India’s GDP and almost 49 per cent to the nation’s manufacturing GDP during
the last fiscal.

Among the government’s initiatives, it mentioned the
Automobile Mission Plan 2016-2026, which envisages making India into one of the
top three automobile manufacturing centres in the world with a gross revenue of
$300 billion by 2026.

Official data showed that during the fiscal 2015-16,
automobile exports grew by 1.91 per cent at $8.8 billion.

The telecom industry in India is booming, with the
second-largest subscriber base in the world at 1.06 billon connections, the
report said. 

India, with 275 million smart phone subscribers, recently
outpaced the US to become the second largest smart-phone subscriber base in the
world. 

As many as 38 new mobile manufacturing units have been set
up since September 2015, which ramped up the manufacturing of mobile phone
units in 2015-16 by 90 per cent, the government said.

The number of unique mobile phone subscribers in India is
expected to cross the 1-billion mark by 2020.

“India will see an increase in adoption of 4G services,
with the number of 4G connections estimated to grow to 280 million by 2020 from
just 3 million in 2015,” the report added.

With 100 per cent FDI allowed in the telecom sector, 49 per
cent of which is permitted through the automatic route, total FDI in the sector
during 2014-16 was around $4.19 billion.

On incentives, the ministry said basic customs duty and
special additional duty have been withdrawn and importers of mobile handset
component need to pay only the countervailing duty of 12.5 per cent.

A duty advantage of 10.5 per cent exists for local
manufacturers of mobile speakers and batteries, it added. 

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