Rahul Gandhi criticises 'Make in India', warns “clock is ticking” for manufacturing fall

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sharply criticized the ‘Make in India’ campaign on June 21, saying the initiative has failed to boost India’s manufacturing, which has fallen to a record low of 14% of GDP since 2014, while youth unemployment remains high and imports from China have surged.

During a visit to Delhi’s Nehru Place electronics market, Gandhi posted a video on X showing his conversation with technicians Shivam and Saif.

He said,“People don’t know the difference between ‘Made-in’ and ‘Assembled-In’…Until India gets itself into manufacturing, it will be left behind. China profits.”

He questioned why, despite the PLI scheme, India was not seeing a manufacturing surge. “Even the much‑hyped PLI scheme is now being quietly rolled back,” he claimed.

Gandhi accused PM Modi of relying on slogans without corresponding action, saying Modi had “mastered the art of slogans, not solutions” and urged urgent reforms and financial backing for domestic producers.

“We must stop being a market for others. If we don’t build here, we’ll keep buying from those who do. The clock is ticking.”

The BJP hit back, with IT Cell head Amit Malviya disputing Gandhi’s claims, citing data that India is now the world’s second-largest mobile manufacturer, with over 300 mobile manufacturing units (up from two in 2014), ₹10,905 crore in cumulative PLI investments, ₹1.2 lakh crore in mobile exports, and more than 39 million jobs created in electronics and related sectors.