Make in India at 12: Why Manufacturing's Share of Growth, Jobs and Exports Has Barely Moved
The Make in India initiative, launched on 25 September 2014, completed 12 years. A recent analysis checked its record on 12 metrics, such as manufacturing's share in the economy, jobs, exports and investment.
The main finding: manufacturing's share in growth, employment and world exports has stayed largely the same. Manufacturing is still only about 15.6% of the economy's output in the new national accounts series, far below the 25% target.
Manufacturing grew faster than the overall economy in only about half of the 12 years. India's share of world merchandise (goods) exports has stayed stuck at around 1.7%, even though the value of exports rose.
Manufacturing jobs grew only slowly, from about 5.1 crore in 2016-17 to about 5.3 crore in 2025-26, so their share in total jobs hardly changed. Private companies' investment (as a share of GDP) has also been weak since 2022-23.
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes brought in about ₹2.4 lakh crore of actual investment by 31 March 2026. But the top five sectors (such as solar modules, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, specialty steel and electronics) took about 83% of it.
Electronics (especially mobile phones) and defence production grew fast. Labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, footwear and food processing, which can employ many people, lagged behind.
Make in India
Make in India is a Government of India programme to turn India into a global hub for making things: cars, phones, medicines, steel, machines and more. It was launched on 25 September 2014. It tries to attract Indian and foreign companies to set up factories in India, so that the country produces more, exports more and creates more jobs. It is led by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The 12-year review measures Make in India against its own targets. It finds that manufacturing's share in output, jobs and world exports has barely moved, even though a few sectors like electronics and defence grew fast. This supports the long-running criticism that the programme's gains have been narrow and not economy-wide.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme is a government plan that gives companies a cash reward for producing more in India. The reward is a small percentage of the extra sales a company makes from goods made in its Indian factories, compared to a starting year. So the more a company produces and sells, the more it earns. If it does not grow, it gets nothing.
The 12-year review finds that PLI did bring real investment, about ₹2.4 lakh crore, but most of it went to just five sectors. Labour-heavy sectors lagged. This helps explain why manufacturing's overall share in output and jobs has barely changed.
Premature Deindustrialisation
Premature deindustrialisation means a country's factory sector starts shrinking, as a share of jobs and output, before the country has become rich. In the normal path, a country builds factories, grows rich, and only then shifts to services. In premature deindustrialisation, the factory share stops rising and starts falling while most people are still poor. The idea was made popular by the economist Dani Rodrik.
The 12-year review shows manufacturing's share in output, jobs and world exports barely moving. This is exactly the pattern that the premature deindustrialisation idea warns about. It explains why Make in India and PLI are trying to push manufacturing up before India becomes rich.
- Make in India launched: 25 September 2014; completed 12 years in September 2026
- Original targets: 25% manufacturing share in GDP; 100 million new manufacturing jobs; 12-14% annual manufacturing growth
- Manufacturing share now: about 15.6% (new national accounts series)
- Manufacturing grew faster than the overall economy in only about 6 of the 12 years (old series)
- India's share of world merchandise exports: about 1.7%, largely unchanged since 2013
- Manufacturing jobs: about 5.1 crore (2016-17) to about 5.3 crore (2025-26)
- PLI: 14 sectors; outlay about ₹1.97 lakh crore; about ₹2.4 lakh crore investment (as of 31 March 2026); top five sectors about 83% of investment
- PLI disbursement: ₹28,748 crore as of 31 December 2025
- Electronics production: about ₹1.9 lakh crore (2014-15) to about ₹13 lakh crore (2025-26)