Congress general in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh addresses a press conference, at AICC headquarters, in New Delhi on Monday (December 2, 2024).
| Photo Credit: ANI
The fall in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers for the last quarter highlights the “unimpressive” manufacturing growth, the Congress said on Monday (December 2, 2024).
In a statement, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said the trend indicates that the Narendra Modi government’s flagship “Make in India” scheme has become “Make-believe in India”.
Mr. Ramesh said the GDP growth figures for the quarter July-September, released three days back, revealed a “dramatic fall”.
Of equal concern is the manufacturing growth, which has slowed down to a “shocking” 2.2%, the Congress leader said, adding that export growth has also decelerated to 2.8%.
“The data belies the dismal reality of the Prime Minister’s decade-old promise to make India a new global hub for manufacturing exports. The unfortunate reality is that 10 years after the Government’s flagship Make in India scheme was launched, India’s manufacturing is stagnating, and our exports are faltering,” Mr. Ramesh said.
On Sunday (December 1, 2024), Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi too had raised similar concerns.
Mr. Ramesh claimed that the share of manufacturing in India’s Gross Value Added (GVA) has fallen from 18.1% in 2011-12 to 14.3% in 2022-23 and the number of manufacturing workers has fallen from 51.3 million in 2017 to 35.65 million in 2022-23.
The Congress leader said that India’s share in global merchandise exports has also largely stagnated, and exports are falling as a share of India’s GDP.
“In fact, growth in India’s share of global exports grew much faster in the 2005-15 period, largely corresponding to Dr. Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister,” he claimed.
The Congress leader said that in an employment intensive sector like garment manufacturing, countries like Bangladesh and Viternam have taken a lead and cheap imports from China have impacted the MSME sector.
“Make in India has simply become Make-Believe in India,” Mr. Ramesh claimed.
The BJP has alleged that the Congress’ attempt to “paint a picture of economic doom with selective data and half-truths” is misleading.
BJP leader Amit Malviya said that “crying foul over a 5.4% GDP growth rate is laughable when it is one of the highest globally”.
Published – December 03, 2024 02:53 am IST
