Faster economic growth requires increased share of the manufacturing sector in GDP, particularly of MSMEs. Comment on the present policies of the Government in this regard.

Use it to show that present policies have raised manufacturing output but not its share of GDP, and that input costs weigh on MSMEs.

• Make in India (launched 25 September 2014) targeted a 25% manufacturing share of GDP; the share has stayed close to its 2014 level.
• Manufacturing GVA grew at about 10.9% a year from 2022-23 to 2025-26 under the revised series, and manufacturing IIP grew 7.0% in April to July 2026.
• High logistics costs, tariff increases on inputs and Quality Control Orders raise costs for downstream MSMEs; supporting measures include PLI, PM GatiShakti and the National Single Window System.

Gives a current policy whose compliance costs fall on MSMEs and the corrective rollbacks the government has begun.

• NITI Aayog observed that about 70% of recent QCOs targeted raw materials and intermediates, raising input costs for downstream users, many of them MSMEs.
• On 12 to 13 November 2025, the chemicals department withdrew QCOs on 14 products, including polyester fibre, yarn, polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC; the steel ministry withdrew over 50.
• In January 2026 the Heavy Industries Ministry withdrew the omnibus QCO on machinery and electrical equipment safety.

Gives a current micro-enterprise policy with its delivery record and gaps, useful for assessing MSME-focused policies.

• PM Vishwakarma, launched on 17 September 2023 for artisans in 18 traditional trades, has an outlay of ₹13,000 crore for 2023-24 to 2027-28.
• It met its 30 lakh registration target, and over 6.19 lakh collateral-free loans worth more than ₹5,316 crore were sanctioned at 5% interest.
• Gaps: low conversion of registrations into loans as banks remain cautious, cash-based raw material trade, and rising input costs for timber, metal, coir and leather.

District-level ASUSE data show where productivity in small non-farm units lags, letting you argue MSME policy should target districts and clusters.

• ASUSE 2025 covers manufacturing, trade and services units not registered as companies across 757 districts; all-India GVA per worker is ₹1,56,539.
• Activity is concentrated: the top 10 districts hold roughly a tenth and the top 50 nearly a third of establishments, workers and GVA.
• Suggest using district data to target MUDRA lending at lagging districts and to align Udyam registration and skilling with local clusters.

The middle-income trap argument shows why a larger, more productive manufacturing base and MSME technology upgrading are needed for jobs and growth.

• Manufacturing has hovered at about 14% to 17% of GVA for over two decades while agriculture still employs more than 45% of workers.
• WDR 2024 proposes a '3i' sequence: investment, then infusion of foreign technology, then innovation; only 34 middle-income economies became high-income since 1990.
• Suggested measures: technology diffusion and credit to help small firms scale, and job-linked industrial incentives in labour-intensive sectors.

Use it to show manufacturing gaining momentum while consumer non-durables, part of the consumer goods segment where MSMEs dominate, lag, and to set out policy levers for broader growth.

• Manufacturing grew 9% in August 2026, with 18 of 23 industry groups expanding; capital goods rose 16.9% and intermediate goods 13.7%.
• Consumer non-durables, where MSMEs dominate, grew only 2.1%, pointing to weak mass consumption.
• Policy levers: MSME credit and faster payments, employment-intensive sectors such as textiles, food processing and footwear, and PLI with infrastructure spending to sustain capital goods momentum.