New Delhi, Aug 13 — NITI Aayog on Thursday highlighted four high-potential manufacturing sectors -- chemicals, textiles, telecom and network equipment and solar photovoltaic manufacturing -- which can fuel India’s ambition to become global manufacturing powerhouse.
A NITI Aayog report, titled ‘Key Sectors to Position India as a Global Manufacturing Hub,’ focuses on understanding India’s manufacturing landscape in relation to global trends, sectoral growth opportunities and global benchmarks.
It also examines the factors that influence manufacturing competitiveness, including market potential, infrastructure readiness, policy support, raw material availability, technology readiness, employment potential and India’s current position in the value chain.
“The project seeks to identify sectors where India has significant growth potential and where targeted interventions can strengthen domestic capabilities, enhance competitiveness and value addition, and accelerate export-oriented manufacturing growth,” according to an official statement.
This edition of the report focuses on four high-potential manufacturing sectors, to be followed by reports on eight more sectors.
The domestic chemicals industry is broadly led by three key consumption segments: petrochemicals and organic chemicals, specialty chemicals, and inorganic chemicals.
Petrochemicals and organic chemicals form the largest segment and include polymers, synthetic fibres, performance plastics, building blocks, intermediates and end-products.
“India’s chemicals industry has significant potential to enhance domestic value addition by expanding downstream production and improving feedstock utilisation. Promoting domestic manufacturing, investments in competitiveness, and strategic use of FTAs can help reduce import dependence, strengthen downstream capabilities, and support sustainable industry growth,” said the NITI Aayog report.
India’s textile and apparel industry is one of the country’s most important manufacturing sectors, contributing approximately 2 per cent to national GDP, 11 per cent to manufacturing GVA, and 9 per cent of merchandise exports.
India’s textile industry has significant potential to strengthen its global competitiveness by improving raw material availability, scaling up manufacturing through infrastructure support, and expanding market access through deeper trade integration., said the report.
Notable, India is currently the world’s second-largest telecommunications market with more than 1.2 billion subscribers, approximately 85 per cent telecom penetration, and nearly 75 per cent internet usage.
The report said that India’s telecom and electronics sector has significant potential to enhance its global competitiveness by deepening localisation and strengthening domestic component manufacturing.
Key priorities include promoting joint ventures and technology transfer, developing integrated industrial clusters, expanding high-potential export segments, and strengthening testing, certification and skill development to support scale, innovation and productivity.
Moreover, India’s solar manufacturing ecosystem has strong potential to deepen domestic value addition by strengthening upstream capabilities and reducing import dependence.
Key priorities include technology partnerships and joint ventures, greater R&D and performance-linked support, development of integrated clean-tech clusters, and industry-led skilling. Strengthening trade partnerships and G2G frameworks can also expand export opportunities and secure global market access, the report noted.