Reliance Industries to create 1.25 lakh jobs in 12-15 months

Industry leaders, from both India and abroad, pledged their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 'Make in India' campaign and sought stable tax structure, labour law reforms and expeditious decision-making to make it a reality.

Industry leaders, from both India and abroad, pledged their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” campaign and sought stable tax structure, labour law reforms and expeditious decision-making to make it a reality.

At a star-studded launch of the programme, attended by who’s who of the corporate world including Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, ITC chairman YC Deveshwar among others, industry leaders said manufacturing would be critical to creating jobs and getting India back on the high growth path.

RIL announced plans to create 1,25,000 jobs in the next 12-15 months, “We have exports of over `2,75,000 crore to over 140 countries and our investments of over `1,80,000 crore are coming into fruition in the next 12-15 months. We would be creating be over 1,25,000 jobs in India in the next 12-15 months.”

“Our aspirations on the global manufacturing arena will be fulfilled if we address some challenges on priority,” Cyrus Mistry said while addressing the
gathering.

A jam-packed central hall in Vigyan Bhawan witnessed unveiling of the “Make in India” logo and website as business leaders lauded the initiative.

“India has come to be known as the global IT hub and reservoir of intellectual capital. It’s high time that India becomes a preferred centre of choice for manufacturing for global companies,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla.

“Make In India is about the present and future, ‘Made’ is in the past...We commit ourselves to the ‘Make In India’ movement that was given to a billion Indians by our PM, said Ambani.

Emphasising that it was important for villages to stay connected to be a part of the growth story, RIL chairman said, “It is important to connect village clusters with international markets and not only domestic markets by building physical infrastructure and virtual infrastructure so that all our goods and services are connected to all markets.”

However, he also added to succeed in the campaign, India should be open to inflow of capital and expertise across the globe.

Stressing that manufacturing is key to India’s macro-economic stability, ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar said: “By creating India a manufacturing hub, we will increase our exports, so manufacturing is not just going to be a growth driver, a creator of jobs but also something that will strengthen the macro-economic stability of the country.”

Kenichi Ayukawa, MD of India’s largest auto-maker, Maruti Suzuki, said: “We have been able to implement Japanese work practices in India.” He did draw smiles from diplomats and bureaucrats when he mentioned that the company was able to export about 600,000 cars from India annually — despite problems in doing business in India — and a few whispers of “yesssss”.

“But if…hurdles were removed, India would then become one of the most competitive manufacturing countries globally,” he added.

Wipro chairman Azim Premji said, “There is a huge potential for manufacturing in India. We need to promote frugal and low-cost designs.”

Industry chambers said the push to manufacturing while create millions of new jobs. “We have embarked on the path for India to become a global manufacturing power,” said Sidharth Birla, president, Ficci.