The Promise and the Reality

Way back in 1947, as India became independent, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru set out a vision to shape the country's economy and the development of a just and equitable society. Manufacturing was key to this vision, since it is crucial to generating employment and higher growth. More than seventy years later, manufacturing is far from competitive and contributes only 15 per cent of the GDP. As a result, removing the wide socio-economic disparities remains a distant dream. In Getting Competitive, R.C. Bhargava draws upon his unique experience of more than sixty years as a policymaker and industry leader to give practical suggestions. These include replacing socialistic industry-related policies with those that would promote competitive manufacturing, and substituting Western management culture with that of the East to create trust with citizens and partnership relations with industrialists, workers and the government. The bureaucracy must be enabled to facilitate and promote competitiveness. Above all, we need to create national acceptance that manufacturing competitiveness is our first priority. For policymakers and general readers alike, this book brings promise to what has become a disappointing scenario.