Kharge slams Centre over ‘failures’ of Make in India

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that Indian entrepreneurs were moving abroad and setting up companies there, instead of preferring India due to the BJP government’s focus on “publicity rather than delivery”.

The Congress chief wrote on X: “Modi Govt’s ‘Make in India’ is a classic case of giving importance to publicity rather than delivery.”

He was referring to the BJP’s 2014 manifesto, in which the party had made 10 promises to make India a “global manufacturing hub”. None of these promises have been fulfilled, claimed Kharge.

“The situation has become worse. With a massive decline in employment opportunities in manufacturing and decrease in the share of manufacturing in the GDP, public-sector undertakings are being sold and MSMEs are suffering. Exports are witnessing a free fall, while bureaucratic hurdles are the order of the day,” he said.

“Has the Modi govt wound up the Phase 1 of the much-hyped PLI Scheme worth Rs 1.97 lakh crore, after 12 of the 14 identified sectors failed to take off?” he asked the BJP.

He further asked, “Under the Modi government, why has the share of merchandise in India’s total exports fallen to its lowest level in at least 50 years?”