Speaking at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention in Indore, Sitharaman said the government is strongly presenting India to multinational companies as a country where they can set up their factories apart from China and the EU.
Citing the example of Lockheed Martin, which is producing wings for F-16 fighter jets in India, she said global companies were eyeing India for high-tech production.
Sitharaman said India was already contributing to global manufacturing and added that 14 out of 15 diamonds in the world are cut and polished here and for almost any car bought abroad, there’s at least one component which is made in India. Airbus, she said, is also setting up a plant in Dholera in India and 2000 chips were designed in India.
“It is not just low cost production but high-tech manufacturing is also happening in the country,” the minister said, adding that India was becoming a knowledge hub for the world.
“Our efforts are to make sure to attract the industries to come up to India if they look for elsewhere other than in Europe.”
Sitharaman said India will focus on the four ‘I’s – infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusion for the next 25 years.She asked the diaspora to choose India made goods and services to support the growth of the country in Amrit Kaal and partner with local businesses and handhold them to become part of global supply chains.
“I also want to invite the Indian diaspora to partner with Indian businesses whether it is nano, small, micro, or large so that they get their potential in entrepreneurial skills to grow by 2047,” she said.
The minister highlighted how low cost technologies were emerging in the country and pointed out that the cost of the Chandrayaan was far lesser than a Hollywood film.
Acknowledging the contribution of the non-resident Indians, she said the remittances sent to the country by overseas Indians were about $100 billion for the year 2022, up by 12%.
