The make in India concept was actively promoted by the government of India only during the initial years of independence and it was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first PM of India who actively pursued it for self reliance. However, the thrust in those days were for public sector manufacturing which created a handicapped system which could not freely develop and progress due to administrative interferences in a predominantly administered industry.
Then came the new wave concept of free trade and globalization which the Indian government half heartedly pursued and implemented. However, the policies on liberalization that India followed was not any thing with well defined policies. It caused India to develop and progress in an unbalanced manner. The private sector was allowed to compete with the public sector in a selective manner which killed and paralyzed the public sector which operated under severe administrative constraints.
The casualty was the skilled work force of the public sector!
During the Nehruvian era, make in India was really happening in India. Had the momentum maintained, India would not have been in the poor state of affairs as it stands today.
The resultant has been too obvious for those who understood the problems. The core industries of India that had taken roots initially got weakened. The foreign suppliers of core industrial equipment and systems for the non core indian business were no more facing any competition from the Indian soil.
The secondary Indian producers were required to procure their equipment and systems at a higher cost whereever international competition was practically absent.
exactly made in India but assembled in India!
The Indian governments at the local, state and central levels add many complications further to the industry, especially the manufacturing business. There are contradictory and confusing laws on land, rentals, labor, environment, registration, licensing, taxation, and the like. The Indian governments are at odds with each other most of the time! The Indian judiciary too, would not be of any help most of the time!
Now extending this logic to all other industries, we can easily find that India is at a disadvantage as far as make in India is concerned for most of the industrial products. The vicious circle keep perpetuating and it would not be easy to break it so easily.
The situation can be changed only by strong governmental intervention and support. Unless there is coordinated approach in the governmental arms, nothing can move forward, practically.
Most of the Indians are not willing to do the hard work that is required for designing and manufacturing sophisticated equipment and systems. Indian industry leaders are also not prepared to take that challenge because they consider that not very lucrative. Even if they produce, marketing would not be easy in a competitive environment and they are not prepared to take that challenge.
It is not practical for the Indian industry and the Indian workforce to start their production acts from scratch with full self sufficiency. They need to be exposed to the current trends elsewhere in the world. Unless they get experience in the current available technologies they would not be in a position to march forward in a competitive world. How do they get the contemporary experience?
Indian adminstrators and policy makers do not even understand the basic differences in the experience levels of engineers in the academy, industry, research and across the various engineering disciplines.
For example, industrial users procuring Indian manufactured equipment for their use should be given some incentives.
The government should think of enhancing professionalism among engineers by motivating working engineers to share and interact among their fraternity through professional bodies. Government should provide statutory recognition to professional bodies of engineers such as the Institution of Engineers (India).
The government should think of creating a separate service similar to that of the IAS, for giving top governmental leadership to the complex industrial set up of India. Let it be called the Indian Technical Administrative Service (ITAS). Let them be drawn from the technical streams of the Indian government such as the defense, the PSUs, the Railways and the like without them being subjugated to the hegemony of the IAS.
Some day some of these ideas might evolve in to actions! Who knows?