The intensity of spread of the worldwide COVID-19 crisis has baffled nations worldwide. Most nations are caught completely off guard because the healthcare systems around the world have dwindled and therefore the authorities have scrambled to stay people from strolling outdoors. The corona virus crisis has also come as an important blow to the already struggling world economy. Stock markets round the world have plummeted to at least one of rock bottom levels, people have lost jobs and therefore the economic activity has come to a standstill.
Because the saying goes that “there is light at the top of each tunnel”, every crisis brings its own set of opportunities. Fresh numbers suggest that the manufacturing activity in India has dropped to close zero levels. However, on the contrary this pandemic has the potential to pave India’s much anticipated way into the manufacturing sector.
This article briefly enumerates the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead ahead of our country if it wants to start the journey of boosting its manufacturing sector.
Opportunities
1) The worldwide pain of over-reliance on China
Because of the novel coronavirus crisis that the planet is now coming to terms with the very fact that They had put all their eggs in one basket with China becoming the sole source of raw materials and made products round the world. it’s expected that other countries will follow suit within the near future and India will have the golden opportunity of fixing manufacturing bases in India.
2) Trade Wars
Up until recently China has been entangled during a fierce trade war with the US which has led to a steep rise within the price of its goods within the US. India being the trusted partner folks for a few years , must capture this chance of inviting American companies (many of whom have also been hit hard thanks to recent supply chain disruptions) to manufacture in India which can cause enormous job creation in various areas of production.
3) Cheap Labour -
India has extremely low cost of labour compared to China and its highly skilled working population are often instrumental in turning its manufacturing sector the wrong way up .
Challenges
1) Rising competition from peers -
India isn’t alone during this economic race and a couple of other developing countries since the past few years have seen their manufacturing sectors accelerate and are quietly browsing economic booms. Needless to mention that these developing nations have done a commendable job in attracting businesses to line up manufacturing facilities and can certainly try their best to maximize the recent opportunity at hand also.
2) Effective Policy Frameworks
India is the world’s largest democracy. Every democratic system comes with its own set of challenges and it’s important that central and state governments should add unison towards business friendly policy frameworks to bring India at the forefront of worldwide manufacturing.
3) Poor Infrastructure
India’s poor infrastructure has been the “biggest hurdle till now and has been widely touted because the last ape-man in India’s economic process story. While the extremely cheap labour costs and enormous workforce within the country can make India a beautiful place for investment for a few companies despite the risks thanks to infrastructural problems, it’ll be hard to retain them in future if we fail to upgrade our infrastructure in time.
