The government has begun work on redrafting the proposed national industrial policy, keen to offer benefits in addition to what states provide.“We don’t want to replicate the state models but we have decided to engage in wider consultations,” said a senior official aware of the plans. The government has already constituted a working group to prepare the contours of the new industrial policy to make India a manufacturing hub. The working group, comprising members from seven state governments, the Centre and domestic industry, will consult stakeholders, identify pain points of industry and develop actionable solutions for short and medium term and also delineate the role for the private sector in achieving the national targets. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had proposed the new industrial policy last year, with an aim to create jobs for the next two decades and attract $100 billion foreign direct investment annually. Officials said the existing draft prepared by the DPIIT was more a statement of objectives, and it required rework after comparing with states’ industrial policies and the kind of subsidies and incentives they offer. This will be the third industrial policy, after the first in 1956 and next in 1991.
