Twelve years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the lion logo on a September evening in 2014, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis marked the anniversary of Make in India on Friday, 25 September 2026, calling the programme a transformation of India into 'a global manufacturing powerhouse.'

From a 2014 launch to a 12-year milestone

Make in India was launched by PM Modi on 25 September 2014 with the explicit goal of raising manufacturing's share of India's GDP, attracting foreign direct investment, and generating large-scale employment. The programme adopted a roaring lion — assembled from India's national emblem — as its instantly recognisable symbol, and targeted 25 key sectors ranging from defence and aerospace to textiles and automobiles.

Fadnavis, posting on X with the hashtag #12YearsOfMakeInIndia, invoked both the initiative's original ambition and the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign — announced by Modi in May 2020 — which deepened the push for domestic production and reduced import dependence. 'The lion continues to roar louder,' he wrote, blending the programme's mascot with a wider assertion of industrial momentum.

Maharashtra's stake in the manufacturing story

Maharashtra has consistently ranked among India's top destinations for industrial investment, making Fadnavis's voice on this anniversary particularly weighted. The state hosts major manufacturing clusters in Pune, Nashik, and Aurangabad, and has been an active participant in sector-specific incentive schemes that dovetail with the Make in India framework.

The Chief Minister's post arrives as the central government continues to court global electronics, semiconductor, and green-energy manufacturers — sectors where India is positioning itself to absorb supply chains diversifying away from other Asian hubs. For Maharashtra, that pipeline represents both jobs and revenue.

Atmanirbhar Bharat: the self-reliance layer

The pairing of Make in India with Atmanirbhar Bharat in Fadnavis's tribute reflects how official messaging has evolved over the decade. Where Make in India was primarily outward-facing — a pitch to global investors — Atmanirbhar Bharat added an inward dimension: building domestic capacity so that critical industries are less exposed to global supply shocks. Together, the two programmes have framed India's industrial policy narrative since 2020.

Twelve years in, the anniversary is as much a political stocktaking as an economic one — a moment for the ruling party to claim credit for a direction of travel, even as the debate over precise manufacturing-sector outcomes continues.

For a programme whose lion was meant to signal strength from the start, the question now is whether the roar translates into the kind of GDP-share numbers that would make the anniversary truly definitive.