Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday took a dig at the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre on the completion of 10 years of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, claiming that the ruling dispensation’s ‘stunt’ has put a brake on the country’s manufacturing sector.

Reacting to 10 years of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Congress chief in a post on X said, “10 years of Modi government’s Make in India stunt has put a break on India’s manufacturing. Ten years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi crafted the slogan of ‘Make in India’ and claimed to build Aatmnirbhar Bharat.”

Contrary to the BJP’s high-decibel propaganda, India’s manufacturing sector has got de-industrialised due to the Modi government’s flop policy initiatives, he alleged.

Referring to the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Kharge said, “The average growth rate of the manufacturing sector between 2014-15 and 2023-24 is just 3.1 per cent (BJP-NDA), whereas, between 2004-05 and 2013-14, the average growth rate was 7.85 per cent (Congress-UPA).”

“The number of employees in factories grew at 6.2 per cent annually during the Congress-led UPA regime. This growth fell spectacularly to just 2.8 per cent under the Modi government. Between 2011-12 and 2022, India’s manufacturing sector saw minimal growth in employment, increasing from 6 crore to merely 6.3 crore workers. This modest addition of 3 lakh jobs annually is insufficient, considering 1.5 crore youth enter the workforce every year,” he said.

Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said, “According to the NSO, the share of employment in the manufacturing sector accounted for 12.6 per cent of all workers in 2011-12. This declined to 10.9 per cent (2020-21), before recovering a bit to 11.6 per cent in 2021-22.”

“The share of manufacturing in India’s GDP has hit an all-time low of just 12.83 per cent in 2023 due to the Modi government’s policies. During the Congress-led UPA, the same was 15.25 per cent in 2013,” he said.

Claiming that PLI schemes have miserably failed in several sectors, the Congress chief said, “Most PLI schemes have garnered a lukewarm and tepid response from the industry, and experts have criticised the schemes for their poor design, lack of clarity, and no real value addition. Year after year, the Modi government has sold stakes in even profit-making PSUs to Modi ji’s crony friends, thereby breaking the backbone of our public sector.”

“Instead of filling vacant government jobs, the Modi government has eliminated 5.1 lakh posts. With rampant joblessness, plunging exports, and extinguishing savings, the Modi government’s glitzy ads on ‘Make in India’ cannot sugarcoat its colossal failures,” he said.