Why amendments are necessary for Make in India's success

Government should ensure that products made in special economic zones should be covered par with foreign trade agreements.

The captains of home care, personal care and chemical industry feel that government's 'Make In India' initiative will propel industrial growth, but to make it more effective, certain industry specific amendments are needed at the earliest.

"The single window system for all the clearances should be in place which should also include the environment clearance.

“This is a hurdle which all the chemical factories are facing," said B K Gaikwad, Vice Chairman, Chemexcil (Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Export Promotion Board).

Also, government should ensure that products made in special economic zones should be covered par with foreign trade agreements, he said.

"The products produced in these zones when sold in the domestic market, will attract the standard duty. This is in contrast to the fact that India has Free Trade Agreements with several countries where the duty is low or almost zero, he said.

Gaikwad was speaking on the sidelines of ongoing International Conference on Soaps, Detergents and Cosmetics organised by Indian Home and Personal Care Industry Association in association with The American Oil Chemists’ Society.

He said that Make in India and Swacch Bharat initiatives are going to have tremendous impact on the Home and Personal Care industry.

“Firstly, when we talk of ‘Swacch Bharat’, it does notnecessary means cleaning with brooms.

“It also means maintaining hygiene. With this initiative there is exponential potential for the growth. Per capita consumption of these products is going to go up,” he said.

Another industry expert Sanjay Trivedi said that home care industry is growing at the rate of 10-11 per cent till now and personal care is between 18-20 per cent.

He, however, said that per capita of home care is around four kg, which is about 20 per cent to that of developed country, while for personal care products, the consumption is smaller around one kg per capita.

Nadir B Godrej, managing director, Godrej Industries Ltd said that personal and home care industry is very large in China where per capita is much more than India.

"India is generally 10-12 years behind China in this segment.

“So you can see the very explosive growth happening in the years to come. This is very globalised industry. . . there are very large multinationals operating in india, there are several indian companies which have become multinationals over last 5-6 years," he said.

Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of the Make in India Mission at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Photograph: PIB