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Bangalore: The
Indian government has cleared 63 proposals for foreign direct
investment (FDI) in single brand retail since the measure was
allowed last year, union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand
Sharma said Friday.
"We have received and approved 63 proposals for FDI in single
brand retail so far," Sharma told reporters here, but did not
disclose the quantum of investment that would flow into the
country from the proposals.
"Though I am not able to tell off-hand the quantum of FDI the 63
proposals bring in, it will be in billions of dollars," he said on
the margins of an interaction with scientists of the state-run
Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) on the city's
outskirts.
Among the global majors which have got approval to invest in
single brand retail is the Swedish furniture giant IKEA that is
already sourcing goods from India valued at $1 billion.
"Majority of the single brand retailers which are investing in
India has already a sourcing base in the country and the trend is
set to increase manifold," Sharma pointed out.
"Most of the single brand retailers have sourcing base in the
country and this will increase manifold," he said.
The minister also admitted that British supermarkets chains Tesco
and Sainsbury have applied for setting up their sourcing centres
and enter the Indian retail sector subsequently.
Sharma, who is on a two-day visit to this tech hub for official
engagements, reiterated that the manufacturing sector had to grow
at 10-12 percent annually to enable the Indian economy to return
to nine percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate.
"It is a matter of serious concern that manufacturing has grown at
a mere 0.9 percent this fiscal (2013-14)," he lamented while
addressing students of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-B)
here.
Though India has made its presence felt globally, it is yet to
have one global brand of manufactured product when other
developing countries like China, Taiwan and South Korea have many.
"To address this major challenge, the government has come out with
the national manufacturing policy to raise its share to GDP to 25
percent from 16 percent in the next decade and generate about 100
million productive jobs," Sharma noted.
While Indian manufacturing has grown in strength over the decades,
it has largely been confined to industries which are labour
intensive such as textiles, leather, gems and jewellery.
"To bring about a revolutionary change in the manufacturing
sector, our enterprises have to embark on massive innovation to
develop products for domestic and global markets, as Germany has
done by investing heavily in technology and innovation," Sharma
observed.
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